Letter to Laodicea

A New Status (2011) (11" x 14")

collage and acrylic on canvas

The church at Laodicea is promised, in Revelation 3:21, "a place with me on my throne." This idea is illustrated using a former royal couple as an example.

Letter to Ephesus

New Food (2012) (11" x 14")

acrylic and collage on canvas



The eating of food is a structurally important concept in the Book of Revelation, appearing in the first of the seven letters in Rev. 2-3 as a promise of eating from the tree of life and in the seventh letter as an invitation to eat with Jesus. Two further references to the tree of life similarly bracket the final vision of Rev. 22.

Letter to Philadelphia

A New Place (2012) (11" x 14")

collage on canvas

To those at the church of Philadelphia who hold fast to what they have is given the unusual promise of becoming a pillar in the temple of God.

Letter to Pergamum

A New Name (2011) (11" x14")

collage and acrylic on canvas

In Revelation 2:12-17, Jesus writes to the church at Pergamum, "where Satan's throne is."  This may refer to the huge altar of Zeus, which may be seen today in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

The cryptic promises given to this church include hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it. The latter may be a personalized name given to each believer or a new name for God, revealing more fully his character. 

Letter to Thyatira

New Power (2012) (11" x 14")

collage on canvas

The promise given to the church at Thyatira is to "give authority over the nations; to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered." (Revelation 2:26-27)

Letter to Sardis: Part 2

New Clothes (2012) (11" x 14")

collage and acylic on canvas

Each of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 is given a promise, contingent upon their future behavior. For Sardis it is the wearing of white robes. There are other groups in the book who wear white rainment, a symbol of purity:

     Rev. 3:18    the congregation at Laodicea if they repent

     Rev. 4:4      the 24 elders in heaven

     Rev. 6:11    the Christian martyrs

     Rev. 7:9      the multitude of saved in heaven

     Rev. 19:14   Christ himself

Letter to Sardis: Part 1

Letter to a Dead Church (2011) (12" x 12")

collage and acrylic on canvas board



This letter, found in Revelation 3:1-6, ends as do the other six letters in Rev. 2-3 with the solemn statement: "Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."  This idea is literally rendered above along with images of the dead or sleeping congregation at Sardis.

The City: Part 5 (Babylon)

Babylon (2013) (14" x 11")

acrylic and collage on hardboard



Before making way for the New Jerusalem, God first destroys a city that is the epitome of mankind's lust for economic gain. It is symbolically called Babylon and its downfall is poetically described in Revelation 17-18.

The City: Part 4 (Sodom)

Sodom (2013) (14" x 11")

acrylic and collage on hardboard



Genesis 19 shows God's judgment on a city whose name has become synonymous with sin, with various schools of thought defining that sin as lack of hospitality, attempted rape or homosexuality.

The City: Part 3 (Jerusalem)

Revelation 11:7-10 is an interesting passage in that it appears to conflate a number of cities into one identity. Jerusalem is called allegorically Sodom and Egypt. It becomes the city where Jesus was killed, sin ruled, and the Jews were held in captivity. This is the epitome of all that is evil in the power called "the city." Jacques Ellul has much to say about this in his seminal book "The Meaning of the City."

Jerusalem (2013) (14" x 11")

acrylic and collage on hardboard

The City:Part 2 (Nineveh)

The wickedness of Nineveh was legendary in biblical times. So Jonah was understandably hesitant to preach repentance to them. As one commentator pointed out, "It would be like asking a Jew to preach to Berlin at the height of Hitler's power.  As we all know, Jonah eventually did preach to Nineveh and with great success. But in this picture he is shown as an almost insignificant figure.

Nineveh (2013) (14" x 11")

acrylic and collage on hardboard

Esther

The Book of Esther can almost be viewed as a chess match, complete with a king, queens, and various supporting players with the Jews and Persians being pitted against one another.

The piece below was my only venture into the world of sculpture. Each piece was molded in wax, encased in plaster of Paris, heated to melt out the wax, and then cast in epoxy. The mold was then destroyed and the resulting piece coated with a thin film of epoxy to increase its luster.  The Persian pieces were dyed with purple.  Where possible, archeological artifacts were used as models.

Esther (Persians) (1986)

cast expoxy

Esther (Jews)

Proverbs 30

A very observant reader may have noted that I omitted Proverbs 30 in my recent series of collages on that book of the Bible. Not that I have any theological objections to that chapter; it was just that I had forgotten to take a picture of the piece earlier.  So, for what it is worth, here is the missing chapter.

Proverbs 30 (1994) (7" x 5")

collage on canvas board



This chapter by Agur contains lines which sound like they belong in the last chapters of the Book of Job: "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is the person's name? And what is the name of the person's child? Surely you know!"

The main reason I included the signmaker's shop in the collage was because of the second owner's name.

Acts 26: Paul and Agrippa

The piece below is the first in a projected series of constructions in wooden cigar boxes with titles appropriately alluding to famous quotations incolving cigars.  In this case, the title refers to Paul's audience with King Agrippa and the latter's poignant reply that Paul has almost persuaded him to become a Christian.

"Close, but..." (2011) (10" x 5 1/2" x 1 1/2")

collage in modified cigar box

inside view

Samuel

Kingmaker (2011) 12" x 12" x 1.5")

collage on canvas

Four events in the life of Samuel are pictured in the above piece created on four canvas panels glued together.

1. Samuel leaving home to live in the house of Eli.

2. Samuel's call by God in the middle of the night.

3. His prophetic career.

4. His role in anointed the first kings of Israel.

The Great Commission

Matthew's Gospel ends with the famous Great Commission to go into all the world making disciples of the nations. Thus, the picture below prominently features maps of the world taken from an old atlas.

Final Instructions (2011) (12" x 12" x 1.5")

collage and gilding on canvas

The Last Judgment

To Each His Own (2011) (16" x 20" x 1.5")

collage and acrylic on canvas

Jesus exposition of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25 clearly demonstrates that our actions here on earth have natural consequences in the afterlife and that our final fates are not just arbitrarily imposed upon us by God.

Ecclesiastes 11

The various sayings collected in this chapter all revolve around the fact that man's knowledge is limited. Therefore it is prudent to divide your resources of time and money among many possibilities since you do not know which of them will bear fruit.

 Hedge Your Bets (2010) (12" x 12" x 1.5")

mixed media in wooden box

John 6

As an aftermath of Jesus' feeding of the multitudes recorded in the beginning of John 6, he explains in verses 25-40 that he is the bread of life. His followers reply, "Sir, give us this bread always."  In many ways this passage is similar to chapter 4 of John's Gospel in which the Samaritan woman by the well is told about "living water" and replies "Sir, give me this water."

The "bread" in the construction shown below was made by foaming polyurethane sealant into a small metal bread pan and then painting it with acrylics.

Bread from Above (2010) (12" x 12" x 1.5")

mixed media construction