Beyond the Ruins- Religion
Oil on Door Panel 32x80”
Beyond the Ruins- Religion
Oil on Door Panel 32x80”
Beyond The Ruins: Religion
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
The entire series contains a theme of “fractals”, which find their ultimate expression in this piece. Embedded within this painting are fractal images of all seven sphere champions from the other paintings. Fractals are objects that can be broken down or built together into new shapes that hold all of the identity of their parts. For example, these triangles can be split into four new triangles, each with the same shape of the whole, and can be infinitely subdivided or combined. I have used this shape throughout the series as a metaphor of God’s Kingdom. The “Bride” or Church universal of Christ is described as being made of each separate believer, who in turn hosts within themselves the Holy Spirit- an exact reflection and full expression of God. So we as individuals, families, faith communities, regions... to the global Church through all time, are Kingdom fractals. We hold the DNA of the Christ’s Kingdom within us, and as we come together in unity through love, we display a glorious Bride.
I will not attempt to tell you what these paintings are “all about”, as the best pieces of the work came through me and not from me. I invite you into the conversation, eager to learn from what you discover, and offer some ingredients of the imagery as a start to the dialog...
I see these two images as a pair addressing the sphere of “Religion”, one exposing the fragments of a human led institution, and the other as the unity of a Spirit led Body and Bride of Christ.
These “fractals” are painted on 1/4” birch triangles coated with gold foil and/or 23ct. gold leaf and added to the surface of the painting. Clockwise from top: Cathedral fractal, business fractal, and Media fractal.