On display this Easter season, “The Way of the Cross” invites viewers into a reflective journey through Christ’s final hours, blending illustration, music and tradition.
A centuries-old Christian tradition is taking on new life at the BYU Museum of Art this Easter season, where BYU illustrator David Habben reimagined the "Stations of the Cross" as a deeply personal, 15-piece visual pilgrimage.
His exhibit, "The Way of the Cross," brings together contemporary illustration, music and curation. It features collaborations with composer Andrew Maxfield and curator Maddie Blonquist to immerse viewers in the final moments of Jesus Christ’s mortal life and invite reflection on His sacred life and mission.
The traditional 14 stations portray scenes including Jesus’ condemnation, His carrying and being nailed to the cross and end with Jesus’ body being laid in the tomb.
For Habben, this rich liturgical tradition served as a bridge of truth — one he felt driven to recreate using his own talents.
"The stations themselves can be made in many different ways," Habben said. "From gorgeous, elaborate paintings, to hyperreal very simplified. The key for me was to make this a personal journey. I leaned into what I do."
To bring his illustrations to life, Habben says he would start his day with a personal prayer and then read the St. Francis prayers that accompany each station. Inspired by the text, he would make the first black ink mark for the Savior, then add color and detail.
"It was a very spiritual process for me," Habben said. "I wanted this process to be as inspired as it could be so that I felt like I was doing it justice, that I was practicing my faith in the work itself, rather than just outwardly representing it. I wanted to embody it."
Habben aimed to make the experience accessible and recreatable. He used affordable paper, spray paint, ink and colored pencils in hopes of inspiring others to have their own spiritual and artistic experience, regardless of training.
The gallery itself was curated to echo the display conventions found in other churches. That curation includes an antique pew inviting patrons to sit and reflect on the historical form of worship.
The stations, set in the customary counterclockwise order, take the viewer on a painful journey with Christ, amplified by Habben’s abstract style.
To further immerse viewers in their pilgrimage, Habben and Blonquist recruited Andrew Maxfield to add original music.
Inspired by Habben’s bold linework, Maxfield employed Renaissance line principles and jazz harmonies to bridge the gap between antiquity and the present.
"You don't have to go to the Holy Land in order to walk with Jesus," Maxfield said. "In my piece, Stations of the Cross, the idea is that musically we're doing exactly that. The piece begins with this little prologue where the disciples are gathering to then tell the listener a story and the voices get in and out of sync with each other as it repeats."
According to Habben, the intense suffering depicted in the first 14 stations is heavy, but it had a distinct purpose.
"All of this suffering, all of the pain, all the experience of the Atonement was to lead to this resurrection," Habben said. "That's part of our faith. We're focusing on the living Christ, the risen living Christ."
At the end of the exhibit, viewers come to an additional fifteenth station depicting Christ’s resurrection, centered in the gallery as the culmination of Christ’s journey. The bold black lines on gray paper are replaced with gold ink on a light background, symbolizing the triumphant end of the pilgrimage and the ultimate hope of the living Christ.
