Noah and the Ark

Deluge Refuge (2008) (11 1/2" x 8 1/2" x 3")



Found objects often suggest appropriate themes. In this case, it was a wooden shoe mold with SAFETY stenciled on the side that was the inspiration for this assemblage illustrating various chapters in the story of Noah and the Ark, found in Genesis 6-9. The key in the top of the "ark" is a reminder of God's personal touch in closing the door behind Noah, his family, and his menagerie (see Genesis 7:16).

Holy Ground

Twice in the Bible, major characters are told to take off their shoes since they are standing on holy ground. One such occasion is found in Exodus 3 where Moses encounters God in a burning bush. The other time is when Joshua is preparing to take Jericho and he is met by a man with a sword (Joshua 5:13-15). When he asks the mysterious stranger if he is "for us or against us," the man replies, "No, I am commander of the army of Yahweh."  We should remember this story every time we are tempted to say, "The Lord is on our side."

Holy Ground (2008) (11 1/2" x 10 3/8" x 1 3/4")

diptych: paper collage and modified shoe mold in wooden box

I had always thought the reason Moses and Joshua were told to take off their shoes was as a sign of respect to God. One commentator suggested another reason that seems to make sense to me--by taking off their shoes they could come into more direct contact with God's presence. Something to think about.

Miracles in John's Gospel

Saving the Best for Last (Luke 2:1-11)



This first recorded miracle of Jesus at the marriage in Cana certainly dispels any characterization of him as a puritanical killjoy.  C.S. Lewis in his book Miracles points to this event as an example of Jesus' miracles exhibiting the same modus operandi as God does in the process of nature transforming water into grape juice into wine, but carried out in an accelerated manner.

Troubling the Water (John 5:1-9)

Jesus healed a man who had been trying for a long time to get well by following a superstition involving a pool with five porticoes near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. Archeologists have found the remains of a pool with that description in that location with a 2nd Century AD healing sanctuary.

Every Little Bit Helps (Luke 6:1-14)



Jesus' feeding of the multitudes is one of the hardest miracles for modern man to believe; however, it is his best attested miracle, being the only one found in all four Gospel accounts. The multiplication of the bread and fishes is another example of Jesus doing what occurs in nature, but in a much shorter time scale.

Malchus (John 18:1-11)

During Jesus' arrest, Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest's slave, named Malchus. Only John's account gives the participants' names, and Luke's parallel account adds the fact that Jesus subsequently healed the slave.  You may recognize the artist behind the door decoration in the picture above, a not-so-subtle reminder of another famous person whose ear was severed.

Thornton Wilder has written a wonderful playlet entitled Now the Servant's Name was Malchus in which Malchus is in heaven complaining to "Our Lord" that every time someone reads the account of the arrest he feels ridiculous. He therefore asks that he be erased from the biblical account. Jesus replies that many people reading the account feel that he himself is ridiculous since his promises were so vast yet he died like any other man. He concludes, "Malchus, will you stay and be ridiculous with me?"

Miracles in Luke's Gospel

Gennesaret (Luke 5:1-11)



In an early encounter of Peter, James and John with Jesus, he demonstrates his miraculous ability to aid them in their own profession of fishermen. There is the famous pronouncement of Jesus at the end of the story that he will make them "fishers of men."

"Which is Easier to Say?" (Luke 5:17-26)

After a paralytic is lowered through the roof of a building by his friends so that Jesus can heal him, the observing crowd says with some understatement, "We have seen strange things today." But strangest of all is Jesus' claim to forgive the man's sins--soomething that only God can do.

Raised in Nain (Luke 7:11-17)

We tend to think that only Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus and often forget this story in Luke where a widow's son is resuscitated. This is, of course, only a foreshadowing of Jesus' own resurrection.

From the Lesser to the Greater (Luke 14:1-6)

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus uses the rabbinical method of reasoning called "arguing from the lesser to the greater."  When they question his wisdom in healing a man from dropsy on the Sabbath, he points out that any of them would pull an ox out of a well on the Sabbath and, presumedly, a human being is of more importance in God's sight than any animal.

Miracles in Mark's Gospel

"Peace, Be Still" (Mark 4:35-41)



There is an interesting parallel between this account of Jesus' stilling of the waters and Jonah 1. In both cases a sleeping prophet in a ship in a storm is awakened by frightened sailors who ask him to still the water, which he does.

Decapolis News (Mark 5:1-20)



There is a repeated motif in Mark's Gospel in which Jesus' warns those who witness his miracles not to spread the news. This is usually explained as (a) Jesus not wanting people to follow him for the wrong reasons or (b) his concern that too early a revelation of his divine nature would arouse opposition from the Jewish religious authorities before Jesus had accomplished all that he came to do.  Interestingly, this "Markan Secret" is reversed in the story of demoniac's healing--the man is told to spread the news, perhaps because the miracle took place in mainly Gentile territory (note the raising of pigs by those in the area).

Downcast (Mark 11:12-24)

Another term used to describe a literary technique often employed by Mark is a "Markan sandwich."  Basically, it consists of telling half of a story, interruption with another story, and then a resumption of the original story. Both stories are usually related to one another thematically. The account pictured above is one such example, containing the accounts of Jesus cursing the unproductive fig tree (representing Jewish traditions) and overturning the tables of the temple money changers.

Miracles in Matthew's Gospel

The next few posts will feature a series of 9" x 12" paper collages I created in 2009 based on the stories of Jesus' miracles found in the Four Gospels.

While They Watched (Matthew 12:9-14)



The story of Jesus healing a man's withered hand in the synagogue on the sabbath forms a critical point in Matthew's Gospel. It was because of this event that the Pharisees started the chain of events that would lead to the cross. R. T. France, in his excellent commentary on Matthew, explains their anger in the fact that Jesus had publically challenged their ability to speak authoritatively on such an important subject as the sabbath.

Stepping Out (Matthew 14:24-33)

The picture shows Peter's abortive attempt to emulate Jesus' miracle of walking on the water. We will never be able to follow fully in Jesus' footsteps, but that should be no reason give up on the attempt.

Crumbs (Matthew 15:21-28)

When a Canaanite woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter of an evil spirit, he says, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs" referring to his earthly ministry being primarily to the Jews rather than the Gentiles. She replies, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."  At that point he rewards her for her faith and persistence by healing the daughter.  This passage seems to portray Jesus as a rather cold-hearted character unless one reads it as it was probably acted out--a dialogue of playful banter between the two parties.

Clarias Macracanthus (Matthew 17:24-27)

In this story, Peter is instructed by Jesus to go fishing. He catches a fish with a coin in its mouth that can be used to pay the temple tax. This is one of two stories in Matthew involving the responsibility Christians have to obey the civil authorities--the other is the more famous story ending in Jesus' proclamation: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." The proper respect owed to our governmental leaders continues to be a debated issue today.

Four Seasons

Some of the first collages I did were a set of four simple, unmounted pieces with the overall title "Seesons" (spelling intentional) illustrating the idea that God's omniscience is active throughout the year. I wasn't particularly pleased with the results so I later incorporated them into the separate assemblages shown below.

Spring (2002) (12" x 2 3/4" x 4 3/8")
tinted collage, oil and wax on wooden packing box

Autumn (2002) (12 1/2" x 12 1/2")
collage and oil on printer's type case

 Winter: Side 1 (2002) (6 3/4" x 5" x 9 1/2"h)

collage on slate blackboard and ship foundry mold

Winter: Side 2

Summer (2003) (7 1/2" x 15")
collage and oil in printer's type case

Give-Aways

As is the usual practice, I have been asked on several occasions to produce and donate small works of art to be used in silent auctions or to be given away at art receptions. The challenge to a collage artist is to make a statement using only a few pieces of paper, instead of the sometimes hundreds of individual images that go into a larger piece. Below are a few examples of 4" x 6" give-aways mounted on plywood and created for a 2011 show.

Vessels of the Lord

I Kings 7:48-50 describes the gold vessels that were made to furnish the Solomon's Temple.  These vessels figure prominently later on in the Book of Daniel. Daniel 1:2 recounts how King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah and brought these vessels to "the treasury of his gods." That is not the end of their story, however, since these same vessels reappear in Daniel 5 where they are used by King Belshazzar as part of a feast celebrating the Babylonian gods. As a result, he receives the "handwriting on the wall" and is killed that very night.

Give Thanks

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God." (I Corinthians 10:31)

Shaken Not Stirred

The allusion is not just to James Bond but also to Amos 9:9--"For lo, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the ground."

Mansion or Menagerie?

This is my favorite image in this group. Isaiah 13:19-22 foretells the future devastation of the grand city of Babylon, which will become the habitation of wild animals and demons.

On the Road to Emmaus and Damascus

The New Testament records two similar encounters of individuals with the risen Christ that both take place while travelling. The first one is found in Luke 24 while two unnamed men are travelling on the road to Emmaus. The second, and more momentous, event is when Saul (later known as Paul) is struck blind while on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians there (see Acts 9, 22 and 26 for parallel accounts of this encounter).

The technique used for the collages picturing these stories is akin to that used in a cartoon strip, with separate panels for each unfolding phase of the tale.

The Road to Damascus (2010) (16" x 20")

The Road to Emmaus (2010) (16" x 20")

The Two Shall Become One

While searching through one of my favorite antique junk stores, I found two wooden pieces (a pencil box and an old change counter) that I thought  might be suitable for later assemblages. When I got home, I realized that they were identical in two of their dimensions. Using this fortuitous happening, I glued the two together and populated this three-dimensional substrate with a wooden ball and two polyurethane "mushrooms" from my laboratory. Acrylic paint and paper collage techniques finished the piece, which is in honor of the institution of marriage (see Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:4-6).

The Two Shall Become One (2005) (12" x 6 1/2" x 2")

Heaven

Jacques Ellul, the prominent French lawyer, sociologist and theologian, has written a very insightful book entitled The Meaning of the City in which he traces the biblical concept of the city from Genesis to Revelation.  He perceptibly notes that the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation is not a mere return to rural Eden as if millennia of human history had not occurred; this time it is a city in which man and God dwell together.

This was the basic concept behind the mixed media piece (collage, wax, acrylic, plywood, dowels) I created in a small (5 1/2" x 4 3/4" x 2") cigar box.  The advantage of using a box as a "canvas" is that each separate face can be an entirely different picture. The disadvantage is that sometimes the separate pictures do not quite fit together in style or color scheme--which I think is the case with this particular piece.

Urban Eden (2009)

 The "urban" part of the picture is found on the outer lid of the box.

The "Eden" portion of the piece is found on the inside of the lid. The base of the box pictures the River of Life described in both Genesis 2 and Revelation 22. This river ties together the two diverse images of heaven as well as serving as a set of bookends for the whole of the Bible.

The Good Samaritan

Sometimes one hobby can be recycled into another.  For years I collected antique bottles until there was no more room in the house to adequately display them. Then I concentrated on patent medicine bottles and related paper items.  Some pieces in my collection seemed perfect for the subject of Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan.

Neighbor (2008) (11 3/8" x 8 1/2" x 1 1/4")



I thought the patent medicine bottle ("Elixer of Opium") and old advertisements went well with the engravings from an English boy's periodical and a leather postcard which illustrated the various stages of the story.  Apparently others thought so too since this collage/assemblage was chosen to be included in CIVA's travelling show entitled  "Touch, Anoint and Heal: God With Us."  CIVA, for those not acquainted with the organization, stands for Christians in the Visual Arts.  See civa.org for more information on this show and other activities that they sponsor.

Acts 16 -- Jailbreak

The interesting thing about developing new artistic techniques is that they can then be combined at will. The piece below incorporates two techniques mentioned in some of my recent postings: partial replacement of black-and-white engravings with colored elements and use of random plywood cutouts to add a three-dimensional effect. I then went a step further and melted colored wax over the plywood pieces.

Jailbreak (2005) (9" x 11" x 1.5")



The subject is found in Acts 16 and concerns the jailing of Paul and Silas while in Philippi because they upset the economic plans a man who owned a fortune-telling slave. An earthquake provided an easy means of escape, but Paul and Silas instead stay to minister to the jailer's physical and spiritual needs. There are several themes in this chapters that are applicable for today: the relationship between Christianity and capitalism, a Christian's duty to the state, spiritual warfare, the sometimes unintended effects of open evangelism, and our response to "open doors."

Joshua

The piece pictured below has the distinction of being the heaviest piece I ever created. Heavy, that is, in terms of weight, not theological depth. It is a good example of how the physical materials of art can, on occasion, drive the concept. I purchased what was advertised on the Internet as a "prism carrier." I have no idea what that really means, but the picture looked intriguing.

When it arrived I saw that it contained 24 compartments, which led me to the Bible looking for a book with 24 chapters. The Book of Joshua fit the bill; it has 12 chapters describing events during the conquest of Canaan by the Jewish people, followed by 12 chapters describing the division of land to the 12 Tribes. Occupying the first compartments I filled were lead sinkers slightly modified so as to suggest the events in the corresponding chapters of the book. I then visited the fishing department of a local sporting store and realized that sinkers come in so many different shapes that they could easily be used to fill all of the compartments of the assemblage. The result, all 11 pounds worth, is shown below.

Joshua (2000) (14" x 14" x 2 1/2") 

The Book of Ruth

One gallery I am associated with required a certain number of 12" x 12" x 1.5" canvases for each show. After playing with combinations and permutations within these size restrictions, I came up with the idea of gluing two thinner stretched canvases back to back and utilizing the wooden stretchers as an integral part of the piece. The various squares surrounding the center canvas contain plastic, wood or metal pieces representing various events in the life of Ruth the Moabitess, a distant ancestress of Jesus.

The Game of Life (2010)



The edges (not shown) are painted in the typical bright Monopoly colors, the die in the center represents the four chapters of the Book of Ruth, and the "Chance" rectangles point out the main theme of the book-- the hidden providence of God over events in our lives.

The two large cards in the center represent two views of Ruth herself. The black-and-white card is an illustration from an old Catholic story of the Bible, and shows the standard view of Ruth as a prime example of a "pious" woman. By contrast, the turn-of-the-Twentieth Century trade card has been utilized to picture her as an agricultural pin-up girl striking a provocative pose. This is consistent with the fact that Ruth (at her mother-in-law's urging) actually entices Boaz into a proposal of marriage by lying with him at night and "uncovering his feet." The latter phrase is usually felt to be a euphemism for another organ of the body.  This view might shock some people, but it should be remembered that there is only one true hero (or heroine) in the Old Testament--God.

Negative Images

One of the collage techniques I have relied on is the juxtposition of color images with black-and-white ones. A subset of this technique is to take an old engraving and cut out the images of people, leaving only the outlines. The missing images are then replaced with abstract colored ones to create a surrealistic effect. Three pieces utilizing this technique are shown below:

Wandering Stars (2010) (22 1/2" x 14 1/2")

The topic here is the basically the same as in my previous posting: false teachers who infiltrate the church. Jude treats this subject in verses 8-16 of his short letter, much of which has the same language as in 2 Peter. Scholars are still arguing as to which author borrowed his language from the other.

Lost and Found (2006) (18" x 14")

Minimal use of the technique described above is used in this piece illustrating various parables of Christ (see Matthew 13, 18; Luke 15) involving lost or hidden items which are then found.

Watch (2006) (18" x 14")

This is a companion piece to the previous one, again related to teachings of Christ. However, this collage concerns his sermon involving the future found in Matthew 24 and 25. His admonition for his followers to "watch" has been widely misinterpreted throughout the years as teaching that a Christian should keep track of unfolding events so as to know when the last days are approaching. He is more likely saying that we should always be spiritual alert and not be caught unprepared since the Second Coming will arrive with no advance notice.

2 Peter 2-3

Some of my pieces are inspired by the physical materials I come across. One such example is shown below.

Peter Observes (2005) (19" x 12")

A friend had a craft hobby of cutting out letters from a sheet of plywood with a jigsaw to use in various projects. He gave me the leftover plywood scraps, leading to the idea for the piece shown above. The content is based on 2 Peter 2-3 in which the author rants and rails against the false prophets who have invaded the church (not unlike today).  In the process he references the Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The technique was created by pasting appropriate pictures on a piece of hardboard, gluing the pieces of plywood at the junction lines between the pictures, and then painting the plywood with acrylics so as to blend in with the adjacent collages. The result, which is a little hard to see in the photo, is to create a three-dimensional effect which confuses the eye. This technique relates well to the references in Peter to "irrational creatures, mere creatures of instinct," "unsteady souls," "gone astray," and "driven by a storm."

Jeremiah 29

In the 29th chapter of Jeremiah, the prophet writes a letter to the Jews in Babylonian captivity urging them to settle in their land of exile, build houses, plant gardens, marry and have children. He finally urges them to pray for the welfare of the alien land they are living in. Since we are all aliens in this world, Jeremiah's advice would seem to apply equally to us today.

Letter from a Prophet (2005)

This assemblage was constructed in a wooden box that once contained drafting equipment. The diverse materials used include two leather postcards, several advertising cards, doll parts and assorted glass and metal pieces. Each of these included elements originally related directly to the passage in Jeremiah. However, today I can say with Robert Frost when he was asked about the symbolism of one of his lines of poetry, "Once only God and I knew what it meant; today only God knows."

Small Boxes

Working on a small scale is sometimes just as satisfying as creating gigantic pieces, even though that goes against the current trend in art. Below are two examples of collage/constructions enclosed in wooden boxes no larger than 6" x 6" x 2" when closed.

Crossing (2009)

Crossing (detail)

This construction made from cabinet hardware and corks commemorates a landmark event in  Jewish history, the crossing of the Jordan River led by Joshua.

                                                         


                                                          Not a Game Anymore (2009)

The piece above is based on a somewhat more obscure event from Judges 14. Samson attends a bachelor party with 30 of his fiancee's friends and poses an obscure riddle to them: "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?"  They guess the riddle only by coaxing it out of Samson's woman. In his anger, Samson kills 30 men of the town.  You will have to read Judges 14 to find out the secret of the riddle and the reason the men are drinking with a cow in my collage. 

The title refers to the tragic events that end the story and to the fact that it is constructed inside a portable backgammon game board. 

Exodus

One of my most ambitious, and only partially successful, art projects was to construct a closed wooden box picturing the events of the Exodus with collages on all six sides. In addition, the internal workings of the box would be a three-tier maze representing the wanderings in the wilderness. Successful navigation of the maze by a steel ball (dropped into the box through a hole in the top) could only be accomplished by knowing the Biblical story and studying the pattern of divisions in the colleged sides. Any false move in tilting the box would result in the ball dropping out through a hole in the bottom.

Unfortunately, the only one in the family (including myself) who was able to navigate the maze was my youngest daughter--by violently shaking the box until the ball magically exited where it was supposed to. Nevertheless, as an unusual piece of art it is still of some interest.  A few of the panels are shown below:

Exodus, top (1989)

The life of Moses from birth to the burning bush.

Exodus, side A

The Ten Plagues

Exodus, side B

In the Wilderness

Balaam and Simon Magus

The Old and New Testaments contain cautionary tales regarding those who, respectively, use a religious position to gain money or use money to gain a religious position.  Both of these problems continue to plague today's churches, so it is a good time to be reminded of the stories of Balaam and Simon Magus.

Two Asses (2005) (24" x 18")

The story of the prophet Balaam is given in Numbers 22-24. He was paid by the enemies of Israel to prophecy against that nation, but everytime he tried, only blessings came out of his mouth. It took his jackass to alert him to the spiritual forces he was trying to work against.

It is probably difficult to see all of the details in the above collage picturing these events--and impossible to discern the fact that certain of the rectangular units (spelling out Balaam's name in Hebrew) have a higher luster than the other units.

The Power Called Great (2005) (24" x 18")

The above companion piece takes as its theme the story of Simon Magus found in Acts 8. Simon noted that the apostles had been given the power to impart the Holy Spirit to believers through the laying-on of hands. He then offered money to Peter if he would share that power with him. He was naturally denounced by Peter, who replied (in the vernacular), "You and your silver can go to Hell!"

Simon's name (in Greek) is highlighted through use of a glossier finish on certain of the rectangular units.The same basic technique is used in both collages-- small collaged canvases are glued to a larger canvas background colored with acrylics.

The Witch of Endor

Last Desperate Measure (2010) (8" x 10" x 1.5")

I Samuel 28 tells the story of King Saul's attempt to find spiritual guidance after God has cut off all communication with him. This three-layered collage picturing the incident was created by gluing two wood-framed canvases front to back, cutting an oval out of the front canvas, cutting strips out of the second canvas, and gluing another collaged canvas sheet on the back of the second framed canvas.

The foremost layer pictures Saul's futile attempts to reach God by the way of dreams or use of the urim and thummin. The middle canvas shows the Witch of Endor who acts as a conduit for the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel, pictured on the third layer.

There is continuing controversy regarding the vision of Samuel and whether God or demonic forces conjured him up. However, the story does serve as a cautionary tale regarding mankind's desperate attempts to find meaning and guidance in the world apart from God. 

I Corinthians 15:32 and Acts 19:23-41

After a long absence from this blog site, I am ready to resume some new postings.

Paul makes an unusual statement in I Corinthians 15:32 that he "fought with wild animals at Ephesus." This conjures up images of Christian martyrs in the Colosseum of Rome under Nero's rule. However, if one consults the Book of Acts for events during Paul's stay in Ephesus, it becomes fairly obvious that he is speaking figuratively of his battles with opponents of the Word such as Demetrius the silversmith (Acts 19:23-41).

These New Testament passages formed the inspiration for the piece below, a 15" x 10" collage in a wooden cigar box:

Metaphorical Monsters (2009)