pale in comparison

Okay here’s some further thoughts after talking with seth about my last post. Consider it my opinionated proposal…

How much can we really portray?
Or said better, can an image really support the weight of the truth we’re trying to portray?

Well I submit: No. theres no way our images can capture the weight and depth of this passage. (So thank God for words!)

So let’s not even try. I don’t mean to give up on making art about this. But please hear this: do not feel pressured to capture it all. So much of this is so HUGE. We just can’t do it justice.

There is so much freedom in this! We don’t have to get it perfect. Which is good cause we can’t.

So maybe comparisons are a good angle to take. Imperfect, yes, of course. But we go into it know/admitting that our cute little comparisons pale to represent the real deal.

checking in

hey ya'll. sorry I've been so quiet; my laptop decided several weeks ago it's time here on earth was over, so i have been without a computer until this past week. excellent posts by the way.

i have had a hard time settling on an idea for my contribution. while gesturing, i played around with the idea of using a crown of thorns and maybe a profile of Christ's face, but that presented too many problems for me, and didn't sit right. but i knew i wanted to do something with verse 20, especially the part about "making peace by the blood of his cross." (you may notice that that's not what i originally settled on- thanks for not holding me to it.)

below are the thoughts i wrote down as i brainstormed/meditated on that verse:

firstborn from the dead- flower bloomed amidst those not yet blossomed
firstborn- waiting eagerly to welcome us as we're born
following in his steps
reconciled to himself- pieces coming together, hope for man, finally reconciliation to God, peace through blood
God squeezing Christ in His fist, drops of blood
-plant growing where it drops- new life
-create a door
-mixes with black and turns white
hand underneath holding person dripped on (2 canvases?)
hands contrast the nature of God
-straining, squeezing, bulging, confining, crushing
-gentle, soft, relaxed, encompasing, safe, loving

so, i think i will be doing a composition of God's hands, one crushing his son, the other underneath either holding a person, the world,... i haven't decided what yet.

my desire is to illustrate Christ taking God's wrath, God crushing his son, and to tie Christ's blood directly to what it means for us- the peace and reconciliation we have found because of it.

i'd love any thoughts on this, especially if there are any concerns regarding how i'm portraying this. any suggestions?

brainstormed last night

so a couple of us (jenny, ryan, jeff & i) gathered last night and brainstormed a bit on some visual directions for our artwork. a few points from our conversation:

• its obvious that we can't capture all of what these categorical statements are saying about the superiority of God and the enormity of these claims about him. like that by him ALL things were created and that ALL things were created for him and through him. visual images just can't do that. even our language is indebted to words like "more than" and "beyond" and categorical statements...
  
• so if we try to take such a literal approach it could be...well...trying to do too much that images just can't do? too illustrative?
  
• personally i think i'm going to work towards showing how ridiculous it is to try to comprehend all this. i'll prolly work with figures and gestures, i need to do some sketches.
• a few more ideas i'm inspired by : pillars falling or being trumped by God's authority.
• maps globes
• holding things together with tape glue rubber bands
  
• dot & a line - like randy alcorn's illustration from that Na heaven message
  
• Jasper Johns, Richard Diebenkorn
• some greek mythology
  
• the gesture from Michelangelo's Christ in his The Last Judgement

how's everyone else's progress coming?