I went over to the church after Mass today and began to sketch in paint. It is such a nice surface! I’m going to really enjoy building up the layers of paint and collage. I want to create a many-layered surface in rich texture. The central portion of the piece will be very architectural because I want to talk about an internal landscape, as well as an external one. There will be evidence that the roof tiles have been pulled to the side however, and there will be the indication of a narrative as four friends have lowered their paralytic friend into a room where he is healed by Jesus. The painting will address the love and the hope of these friends…companions on a journey of faith.
Unlike the traditional approach to this theme however, there will be no literal representation of Jesus or the healed person. Instead, one will find four cords released from the mat…and the room, vacant apart from the obvious Tabernacle. One will ultimately confront the potential for their own healing through their relationship with Christ. In my life, I think as much about the space between the stars as the stars themselves.
In the world of art, the negative spaces that surround the subject of a painting, create the relationships required for an accurate rendering. We can see what is TRULY there by looking at what is NOT. Think about your own lives and you may realize this same thing.