Victor Issa Creates 12-Piece Liturgical Sculpture for World Conference

LOVELAND, CO—An angel has been sighted in the foothills west of this famed art community! Some denizens might say, what’s the big deal? After all, this is “God’s Country”. However, upon closer inspection of the angel reported, one immediately recognizes that her majestic wings are…clay. Hmmm, not your average angel for most believers. Must be a special angel for a special purpose.

And that she is, according to Victor Issa, a Loveland-based sculptor who is working at his studio on Masonville Road to complete a grouping of twelve life-size sculptures commissioned for the General Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church World Headquarters. Titled “The King Is Coming”, the extensive bronze work will be dedicated at the church’s World Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in July 2000. The event, attended by nearly 70,000 faithful from around the world, will be held at the Sky Dome, a setting most appropriate for the dedication as its massive roof opens in welcome to the heavens. A few weeks later, the work will be installed permanently at the General Conference’s World Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Issa’s “The King Is Coming” is the first sculpture commission ever granted by the Seventh Day Adventist World Headquarters. Five international artists were reviewed for the commission.

The work comprises 12 elements described in the Bible’s Revelation: ten life-size human forms representing people of all races and ages; a life-size angel holding a child; and a 6′ x 8′ bas relief panel depicting God with attendant angels descending for the Second Coming. Issa explained that extensive research was conducted to ensure authentic depictions of the various earthly representatives, including their dress and ornamentation. The pieces include an aboriginal male from Australia, a young Polynesian woman, a Native American from the Lakota Sioux tribe, an elder from the Mid-East, two children representing Asia and Mexico, a Masai male from Africa, women from East India and the Caribbean, and a Caucasian grandmother from mid-America. The angel, graced with a magnificent seven-foot wingspan, is holding a Caucasian child.

Victor laughs as he recalled trying to locate models for the various figures. He said, “To achieve the true character and vibrancy of the figure, it’s essential to work from live models. Do you know how hard it is to find a real angel nowadays! And then to get her to stay still for more than a few seconds! Actually, my angel is a lovely local woman we dressed in flowing robes. And her wings are an eagle’s, the most beautiful and regal of God’s airborne creatures.”

“What makes a project like this one particularly special for me”, Issa continued, “is that many of the figures are essentially portraits of people I know. For instance, the grandmother is a wonderful woman from my local church, the Mid-Eastern man is my uncle from Lebanon, the Caribbean woman is a lady I met in Jamaica last year, and the kids are children of friends of our family. A good friend, who is Lakota, helped me develop the character for the Native American. Other models we recruited from nearby communities.”

The project will be cast and completed in Loveland and shipped to Toronto for set-up next spring. Several of the pieces, including the angel and bas relief, will be available in limited editions for other applications, both liturgical and public. Castings will be offered in bronze and forton for various editions. Bronze maquettes of the collection and individual figures will be produced also.