God and the Art project
(1) God’s proposal through Christ, 2018, biro on paper, 2018 420in X 594in
(1a)Unknown, biro on paper, 2018
(1b)The Trinity, biro on paper, 2018
Introduction
the foundation of this project was set by the insight of a commission I had at the beginning of my art degree. the client's request for artworks were scripture - based, and whilst considering the possibilities of illustrating the Word of God, I thought that I could incorporate the idea of making religious art into my practice, since I'm passionate about the Christian faith, and thinking ahead; could have set a grounded final year project. since then I planned by making some samples of drawings based on the lie and teachings of Christ, which are recorded in images 1 - 1b.
(2) Depicting God, Artist book , 2019 25cm X 25.5cm
The Artist Book
the inspiration behind this work primarily came from the whole concept of artist books; An artform that is impersonates the artist thought and vision in a narrative - format. as I generally like to work in sketchbooks, or anything that's book related, i figured that creating a book of illustrated scriptures would be suitable start to the project. the Bible is mostly received in book form so I believe mirroring the concept could be considered applicable.
The content of this book is crafted with coffee, fine liner, Indian ink and watercolour. The cover of the book is inspired by the Holy Bible itself as it usually has a brown cover, they were coated in acrylic paint and acrylic ink. The book itself was not made by myself, rather its a sketchbook I canvased my drawings unto.
The Trinity:
a recreation of the drawing made in 2018, i considered the work to be a profitable piece for the book as i feel it strongly depicts not only the God - head, but the order in which God revealed Himself throughout scripture. The depiction of the Holy trinity (i.e. God the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit) from the top right, the slightly fluffy texture and light rights depict the heavens, who God resides. The identification of the hand figure which is pierced hand is Jesus Christ; and the last figure is of a wing of a dove, which represents he Holy Spirit.
and strongly believes that religious art should be encouraged as it does strengthen the evangelism of the scripturas the word of God; to convey messages. as he identifies the figures in the work, he says that I have taken an abstract approach to depict the trinity. The artist book is quiet foretelling after reviewing the ‘Trinity’ illustration, which I will discuss as we move forward.
(3) The Trinity, coffee and fine liner on paper (book), 2019
The use hand gestures was a language I thought best suited to visually narrate a few of the selected biblical accounts. A man of God commented on how telling bible stories through imagery is profitable to the complexity of The Word and that it brings out the intel of the story in a different way. However, concerning the drawing of the hand, it is believed the whole in the hand is lost in the book. As visible as it may look to the eye, it does not strongly portray the experience that Christ went through. Other than the black nails, which may suggest a dark aura of pain, or something sinister the rest of the hand looks ‘healthy’’ We can reassure that the crucifixion involved a lot of torture to the body and mind, resulting in severe injuries and starvation ( from the fasting he took).
I attended an exhibition of Kathe Kollwitz (1867 – 1945), a suggested artist offered by the intention to develop on my mark making skills. The exhibition revealed her print making career before the mid 1920s. She is noted to be an exceptional artworker in her time, expressing images of womanhood and the working class. Her method of print making ( with the use of graphite) became acknowledged in Germany and then in other places such as china and Russia. I believe her mark making is diverse in portraying emotion and the atmosphere of the scenes she captures in her prints. The following images indicate the various styles she has made in her works.
Following from the Kollwitz exhibition I made 3 mini experiments of mark making with what I have gathered from Kollwitz work. The sample in the middle covers most of the mark making I have used in the artist book, in combining them together, I added charcoal to contour the hand. I did not put much thought to the dripping of blood from the hand but for the second piece, which is to be successful. I have reduced the thickness of the hand and elongated the fingers to expresses the starvation Christ was in due to the fast He took prior to the crucifixion. In the first piece, I rubbed charcoal to create shade and crosshatched on top to contour the hand ( to make it more slim). The background does not have any specific connotation but I would say that it does make the white parts of the hand figure to stand out more. As for the sample in the middle, I was primarily inspired by one of Kollwitz work so I perused to try the dotting method in which I did enjoy. From these I experiments I conclude that before I think of going further with defining texture to express the divine I will need to have a clear vision with light and shadow as I haven’t fully grasped the form of figure in the sense of contrast.
in all retrospect i may not fully conclude with this adapted fashion for the hand drawing; maybe in the future when i move out of the sketchbook i may consider to incorporate a more leaner posture to the hand figures.
(4) samples on posture and mark making, 2019
The Sower
This illustration is a depiction of the parable of the sower which is recorded in Mathew 13 :1 -23.
Other than the famous scripture recorded in John 3:16, Jesus is also known for His parables in which He spoke to the gentiles during His ministry; The illustration depicts how one receives the Gospel. the laboratory - theme suggests an experiment is being conducted; an experiment that already has its results before it began, an experiment based on the human soul. The beanstalk presents the true vine, the seed ( the bible) which germinates eternal life and the 4 laboratory containers contain the response of receiving that seed. As the riddle unfolds, the seed that fell on the wayside, on stones and on thorns did not germinate, therefore it has failed. But for the on that fell on good soil grew. This parable reflects on how the human heart receives the word of God. I thought to move on with a different artwork from the artist book as I didn’t take a liking to how I was moving forward with eh hand drawings.
As I continue to experiment on mark making this work was praised for the ridged strokes, I intend to mimic a bark of a tree, and the sketch to resemble that of a bean stalk, as that was what initially came to mind when think of a giant tree. I took a section from this work to experiment on and thought to work watercolour pencil since I’ve used them in a while.
(5) The Sower, coffee, fine liner, posca pen on paper, 2019
the two images on each side are the enlarged version of the work. Here I intend to mimic a bark of a tree, and the sketch to resemble that of a bean stalk, as that was what initially came to mind when think of a giant tree. I took a section from this work to experiment on and thought to work watercolour pencil since I’ve used them in a while. Experimenting on a section of the work, I expanding into working with two different materials. In image 6b, I added white charcoal to contour the light areas to add a sheen to the body of the stem. I used a fountain pen to make this work as I have never used a fountain pen; I got interested in it by I youtuber I was watching at the time ( Peter Draws). He content is on sketchbook / journal reviews of his artwork and he’d normally post content on different fountain pens as that is his primary medium for making art. His mark making inspired me to change my drawing style in the process of making the book in the summer. Image 6a this sample was made from curiosity. Watercolour pencils is a medium I have use before, and it having a nice finish, I thought I would be interesting to try it out in my current work. It was until I had finished the piece I conclude to continue with the medium for the latter. The nature of this work seems as though the colours are illuminating in which I wish to convey in my final works as the theme is based on religious imagery.
(6a) watercolour pencil, coffee on watercolour paper, 2019
(6b)fountain pen and coffee on watercolour paper, 2019
Artist Research
A research trip led me to create a14th century inspired piece called a triptych. The ‘triptych is an artistic form which is visually divided into 3 panels ( two wings and one centre body). the paintings in them are usually of religious depictions or cultural imagery. what particularly caught my interest is 'The Entombment (The Seilern Triptych)' (1410- 1420) by Robert Campin painting depicts the important moments from the narrative of Jesus Christ. I wasn’t too fond of the content of the painting as I already knew what my next artwork could possibly look like, but I was more inspired by the construct of the triptych
I was also inspired by the works of William Blake as i was fortunate to see one of his biggest collections at the Tate Britain. i learnt that Blake was known to be an English engraver, artist, poet, and visionary. Whilst exploring his work I saw that Blake’s work evoked the Christian doctrine. Some examples of the theme in his work are ‘ the conversion of Saul’ c.1800, ‘angels appearing to shepherds’, ‘God judging Adam’, 1795, etc. although Blake was active in the Romantic era, I believe he applied the renaissance physic to his practice, I say this due to him working for ministries and for people of a religious background. My favourite work of his is ‘Ancient of Days’ 1827 the title of God which is deprived from Daniel 7:9, where Daniel is describing his vision of heaven.
(7a) Robert Campin 1378/79 -1444, The Entombment (The Seilern Triptych) 1410 -1420
(7b) Ancient of Days, 1827, relief printing with ink and watercolor paper
I was deeply moved by this print as I instantly thought of the figure to be a representative of God. I see the figure to be channelling his power to the measuring tool, and somehow measuring the wilderness. This image could be a stance of the figure constructing the earth, as described in Genesis 1.What interests me is the clouds in the background. The skyscape looks majestic to the eye, almost like the sunset. The contrast of warm colours and black almost makes it as though the sky is on fire.. As I have compassion for nature, particularly of clouds, therefore I ought to apply this feature of Blake's work to my painting.
(8) The Dedication, coffee, watercolour pencil and fine liner on paper, 2019, 94.54cm X 95.08cm
This work is a final development of the of ‘ the dedication’, piece, the depiction of Mathew 3, where Jesus was baptised prior to His debut of His ministry. The mediums I used were distributed into 3 mark making forms. From my previous experiments with watercolour pencils, I combined the fine liner and the sprinkling of the coffee to add texture to the drawings. I wanted to see what method seemed appealing and that will properly convey the message of int his case, baptism. The choice of colours were used out of chance, especially for the clouds, the radiance of colour connotes the Glory of God in which I ought to depict in the work. This was considered the most successful out of the whole piece. From the research from the national gallery the instalment seen in fig.13aa is a contemporary approach into making the triptych.
(9) the dedication
The most successful part of this outcome is found in the top right section of image 78. Here I it it’s the cloud and it colours that if feel has given off the feeling of ambiguity and radiance. The mixture of browns and reds with a touch of cool ours add a sense of volume in contrast with the white as highlight. I ought to add fine liner after I was done painting but I resented by the radiant hue of the colours, that it reminded me of William Blake’s work. Not that I intended to copy his work, but that the vibe it gives off seems glorious.
this body of work has taken a turn in my work, I am now moving forward on working on cloudscapes. I believe that will be able to depict the God of the bible with one component.
As i journey in expressing the divine image, I began to experiment with cloud forms by discovering the types of clouds and incorporating them in my own way in suit to the theme. I came across the photobook ‘Extraordinary Clouds: Skies of the Unexpected from the Beautiful to the Bizarre’ by Richard Hamblyn . The book documents some of the most irregular looking clouds, discussing the scientific and ambiguity cause and effect, presenting satellite photography that demonstrates the most unexpected and seemingly impossible patterns that can be created by the natural cycles of the weather. In a few months I will be having an exhibition at the Copeland Gallery. And I desire to make a large cloudscape painting that would vividly express the glory of God . I believe a cloud scape would be a great source of imagery to whom God is,, or where we believe for Him to reside; which is int the heavens. I believe that in the coming weeks I will be able to express that in my work(s).
(10) cloudscape samples
the group exhibition held at the Copeland gallery in February called ‘leave only traces. I shared a series of studies on the naturalistic cloud formations that are usually rare to find. in terms of being rare, I fathered my research on cloud forms and out of the many that I took into interest I manipulated them through collage . I titled the work ‘Observing the Heavens' as a poetic statement to what I adore about the cloudscape. Also coming from my religious background (Christianity) the ideology behind the title is to somehow depict how God looks like. unlike the icon of the Christ, which is formally known to be the cross, the depiction of God to be rather abstract, as He is illustrated in various forms within the Bible (especially the old testament). in terms of installing my work, id say for future purposes that i will be more vocal about how and where i want my work to be presented, as in this exhibition it wasn't entirely exhibited appropriately - it was installed between the darkroom and main showroom, which caused a visual unsettling due to poor lighting.
(11a)Observing the Heavens , watercoour pencil and coffee on watercolour paper, 2020 2020. 152.4cm X 179.832 ( 70.8in X 60in )
(12) 'Leave only traces' 2020, Copeland gallery,
(13) The I AM, coffee, pencil, and watercolour, pencil on wall paper, 2020, 19e 32in x 64in ( i81.28cm X 162.56cm)
I sought to reflect on the current artworks made from the the beginning of the academic year to the recent cloudscape paintings. in this, I figured taking another attempt to paint cloudscape to appropriately depict God . I can almost say that I was somewhat lost in visually defining how God looks like, not that I'm not aware of how He reveals Himself but rather to connote that posture in a way not (probably )perceive in the arts. As I ought to illustrate how I observe God to look like , I did have trouble in creating a work that would represent Him most appropriately. from cultivating the right shape through exploring different cloud forms , to the choice of colours has been thought-provoking. Even through the phase of the Copeland exhibition.
In this latest attempt I began with a more traditional approach to depicting the divine. the sun, or light of heaven being surrounded the petals of clouds was what I believe initiated His Holiness. instead of making a series, or even making samples, I worked directly as I thought experimenting before would add pressure for perfection. A slight change of materials was also made - instead of using watercolour paper, as used in many of my works, I went for the wall paper. I ended up working on the wall, as I pasted the paper with the essentials for masking wall paper. The of painting the clouds remains consistent by blending a combination of warm colours to create a contrast of light and heat. I decided to some cloud flare in the shade of white for illustrate the motion of wind.
After painting the clouds, I had the curiosity of adding different colours for the sky. I have been using coffee as a background for my pervious works so a change of atmosphere would be nice. . Overall, I am pleased with the outcome, even though I didn’t finish it. It made me think of the possibilities of working various backgrounds, even though it may change the context of the work altogether is to depict the presence of God Himself. The coloured circumference was an experiment; there is no religious attribute to cover up the reason why I have made this. I was thinking about creating a splash of colour to connote light and transcendence, as I believe that the things that are above are bright and radiant.
Finding the old testament God
From a small study on the significant of clouds in Christianity, I came across an article by Place for Truth, a website that covers information on clouds and the gospel. According to the bio of the web page, their objective of service is to identify ‘biblical theology, systematic theology, church history, and practical theology emphasising the continual need for the church to maintain the gains of the Protestant Reformation’- Place of Truth. With the article titled ‘ A biblical theology on clouds’, I was I was able to discover the significance of clouds in the Christian faith. The article written by Nick Batzig; he uncovers where clouds were used to depict the presence of God. The bible encourages us to acknowledge as it is apart of Gods Glory, and it is the very form that indicates He is present. The bible shares a significant amount of accounts where clouds are formally utilised, right from the old testament to the Revelation.
Some of the following accounts are as follows:
Noah and the ark - God made a mercy covenant with Noah to never place His wrath on the earth till the fulfilment of the Redemption ( Jesus Christ). He enclosed this covenant with a rainbow that sits within the clouds. ( Genesis 9 : 14 – 16)
Moses – the Israelites fled from Egypt through the hands of Moses. As they were striving to reach the promise land they were accompanied by God, who came by a pillar of cloud by day, and by fire by night ( (exodus 13: 21)
Mount Sinai – in the making of the ten commandments, God settled in the form of a cloud on the mountain for several days until Moses was requested to enter the cloud ( exodus 24: 15 – 16)
The tabernacle (exodus 33: 9 – 10, 40: 34 -37) ***
With this information, I recollect my thoughts initial context of this project - illustrating the Word of God. I can now reference my future works to the biblical accounts confidently as I seem to struggle with figuring out the source of my inspiration on what my cloudscapes are of.
https://www.placefortruth.org/blog/a-biblical-theology-of-clouds
Coffee and art
I've never fully knew much about coffee, its origin, its manufacturing process, what it does to the body, and most importantly – its religious connotation. So I've gathered some information on its history.
Coffee reached Europe in the late renaissance period. It was introduced to the church by Muslim merchants who found about its existence through it being consumed by their flock. The trade of this product was condemned at first due to being held by the Muslims; Christians and Muslims had not made an alliance for centuries, and knowing that in Islam, wine is forbidden, it was logical for the Christians to forbid coffee as wine is an essential drink to their faith. The uprising of coffee has steered up controversy within the church, which led for to go up for testing. A taster session was conducted by the Vatican, where the pope clement vIII tried it for himself, and by the sweetness of the caffeine Pope Clement approved of the product and uplifted the ban, caused the trade of the coffee to flourish within the Christian territory. This was not fully until the pope ‘baptized’ the drink, stating that ‘“This devil’s drink is delicious. We should cheat the devil by baptizing it.” ‘
It was estimated that coffee has been present in as long as the 9th century, where shepherds caught their flock being stimulated by it. So they learnt to cultivate it, making it popular in the Muslim world. Coffee in their hands was used as an energy drink to keep them stable for midnight prayers.
Coffee is one of the most traded product in the world. Its originated from a plant that produces cherries that shells the coffee beans. It has a high concentrate of caffeine. It notes thar coffee in Ethiopia. It took 400 years to reach the non – Muslim territory.Using coffee as a medium has been exciting as I came across it out of sheer curiosity. The brown substance that can be stretched into numerous shades has allowed me to be adventurous. Paint with the unconventional product has added more value to the content of my work - as it holds a strong smell and a defined golden - brown colour which can be freely be stretched into numerous.
The use of coffee in the context in depicting the transcendent God is primarily to evoke the essence of age and value. I wanted to mimic the appearance of an ancient item or per say, some sort of relic. Not that the work has been made a millennia ago. But to somehow create something that could be read to be old but valuable. My time using coffee has brought up questions of how the product could interpret the image of God. Questioning if its important to have that ageing quality to represent who God, because of His omnipotent position. God is living, He is the ancient of days so perhaps Its better for me to depict in the way I see Him now, instead of painting Him in the past, I should depict how God is observed in the present.
https://www.catholicgentleman.net/2014/04/blessed-beans-how-the-pope-baptized-coffee/
(14a) TTHE I AM pt2 - watercolour pencil on wall paper, 2020
As I academically close this project id like to create a mural of a cloudscape that reveals the physicality of God the Father. I aim to exhibit a singular cloudscape painting that would be placed under a natural lighting and that would be large scale, as show in image 14b. I strongly believe I'm getting close how God can be depicted, How may revealed Himself to the Israelites in the Exodus. . The tear up wallpaper in images 14a and b was seen to be more exciting as it seemed like a crack opening the idea of tearing up could connote to the sense of age and value; like I how I described coffee to have represent. My vision of the final pieces involves a fragmentation of clouds that will be puzzled up to make a mural piece that will depict the visual representations of God.
(14b) THE I AM pt2, watercolour pencil on wallpaper, 2020
The desired result of this project is to hopefully have the mural installed behind the altar of a church.
As the work aims to embraces the image of God, it is also intended to, when a preacher stands before the alter to give a sermon, look as though God is behind him who is doing the Lords will. and to all who sees the work from the audience, sees that God is presence and active.; just as God has always been, and always be with every affirmed believer. The work also evokes the presence of God, making an awareness that it is a Holy place, as described in Exodus (Ex. 33 - 40) ( the tabernacle) . I can describe my work to deliver greatness in colour and form, euphoria, calmness . complexity in detail isn’t so much my speciality but being figurative with subjects I deal with is my work ethic.
(15) THE I AM pt2, watercolour pencil on wall paper 2020, 239 com X 287 cm.