Maria Okon is an amateur ‘icon influenced’ Christian painter.  Her signature is ‘M r S Christos’.  Maria is has 2 grown up sons and lives with her family in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia.

‘The Air Guitar’ is her debut into full time religious painting.

"My artistic aim is to make a spiritual representation of Christ, to promote understanding of Him, leading the viewer closer to Him while at the same time activating Christ's Presence in the present of the viewer."

Why is Jesus playing air guitar?

I see the air guitarist as a witness to the way the living Christ lives. [- nothing can stop him in his joy – he has the vital force of his life and he is celebrating it with great passion – his feelings are so strong that he doesn’t need a guitar to express what he feels when he plays it – to himself and to all those who are taking part in the air guitar playing it is just a celebration].

Jesus rocks with life. Most of today’s Christians born after 1950 celebrate with rock music practically every day of their lives. It has become spiritual food. The songs from ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ still reverberate like church bells and that was thirty years ago. There is an ideology that goes with air guitar playing. They play for world peace. The life of Jesus and peace is practically the same thing.

Find out more about Maria @ www.angelfire.com/journal2/mrschristos

2003