With These Hands

In a near‑future city where the Catholic hierarchy clings to ancient patronage, sculptor Roald Halvorsen finds his livelihood slipping through the fingers of a new, cheap technology called the stereopantograph. When his commission for the Stations of the Cross is rejected in favor of inexpensive plastic reproductions, he must confront a church that weighs cost savings against the soul of its visual tradition. The opening scene places him in a dim chancery, bargaining with a monsignor who cites both doctrine and dwindling funds as justification for the shift.

Halvorsen’s desperation leads him to a modest studio that churns out the very replicas he despises, where he reluctantly asks for a modest advance to keep his classes alive. Through terse dialogue and vivid description, the story sketches a clash between authentic craftsmanship and mass‑produced art, exploring how an artist navigates pride, poverty, and the uneasy compromise between faith and progress.