Painting paradoxes

I get the question every so often about why I paint people. I feel that the figure is such an important element of our reality that it has to be approached with a certain theological and philosophical seriousness. The question is, what does it mean to portray the figure? Different traditions portray the body for different reasons and to different ends. Some traditions depict the body as a way of mastering the body. To portray the body with technical excellence is to dominate the body. Others intend to portray the unseen or spiritual aspects of the body. This is an assertion that the body is more than what we see. Here is my approach.

The body, along with several other topics is one of the paradoxes of Christianity. These paradoxes are not contradictory, but rich, deep, and available to probe. The body represents, on the one hand, a designed physical presence that is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. To portray the body is a physical statement and a historical assertion that this body is *here*, and subsequently *you* are here to view it. Therefore, the statement of the physical is an empowering and beautiful reaction to the figure’s presence.
On the other hand, the body was created to die. We know that our physical bodies are impermanent and that when we look in a mirror we see ourselves dimly. Our soul is contained by the body to be revealed only after the body has expired.
To portray the figure then is to portray the tension between the physical presence and the cosmological impermanence of the body. This tension is beautiful to me and it’s something that I hope you’ll note as I show my new work!