From the artist:

I’m not a good listener. In the midst of our national reckoning around structural racism and white supremacy in the US, I’ve found that I’ve done a terrible job listening to my Black and Brown siblings. I constantly have to resist the urge to explain myself, to be seen as good and antiracist. I try saying all the right things, I do performative acts of allyship, and quite honestly, I need to be quiet and listen. I need to be ready to accept criticism, and instead of trying to prove anything, I need to gain awareness of my internalized biases and learned racist tendencies and do the difficult work of unlearning them in every moment. “Get behind me, Satan” (Mark 8:33).

Here we find Peter stepping in and saying all the right things, rejecting the notion that Christ must suffer and die; but in the end, he’s not listening to Jesus. It seems Peter’s rejection of this narrative reflects his fear of the suffering he also might face in following Christ. “Let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

Six days later, the disciples are called to listen once again. In this image, I zoomed out to focus on the moment of Transfiguration. Jesus shines like a beacon atop the high mountain while former prophets appear. The disciples are terrified, but also want to live this moment forever, making the glory-filled rock face their home. At once a cloud descends, obscuring things further, and God’s voice echoes down, “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!” (Mark 9:7). It’s almost as though Jesus had exhausted all efforts to get the disciples to listen, and God had to spectacularly reiterate the importance of listening. I think it’s important to note that following God’s words, all the disciples could see was Jesus.