Gallery RFD

Divine Inspiration, Religion: Meaning and Morals in the Modern World. June 7th-July 7th at Gallery RFD

There are some new photos of the exhibition reception posted on Gallery RFD's website. My painting, Timshel, is in this exhibition. The exhibition includes works of art that explore how organized Religion and Spirituality affect our everyday lives, decisions, politics, and philosophies. The goal of the exhibitions is to give insight into the similarities and differences associated with the practices, doctrines, and responsibilities of different religions. Dr. Bruce Little, MFA Program Director at Georgia Southern University was the Juror.

About the painting:
Timshel (Thou Mayest), Oil on paper and canvas, 25” x 12” (Diptych), 2006

Timshel explores the Yin/Yang element of human nature. The concept of this ancient Chinese philosophy claims that there are two primal opposing but complementary forces found in all things. Everything has its opposite—although this is never absolute. No one thing is completely Yin or completely Yang. Each contains the seed of its opposite. As a diptych, Timshel reflects this idea in it’s two parts--one being predominately black and one being predominately white. This color reference represents the duality of good and evil that exists in the heart of man. While this will always be an internal struggle, there is hope in knowing that God gives people the strength to overcome sin if they choose to do so. This powerful lesson is best demonstrated in the following excerpt from John Steinbeck’s literary masterpiece, East of Eden, in which we see the biblical story of Cain and Abel retold in the lives of two generations of Salinas Valley families:

[Lee said,] “The King James version [of The Bible] says this — it is when Jehovah has asked Cain why he is angry. Jehovah says, ‘If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.’ It was the ‘thou shalt’ that struck me, because it was a promise that Cain would conquer sin.”
Samuel nodded. “And his children didn’t do it entirely,” he said.
Lee sipped his coffee. “Then I got a copy of the American Standard Bible. And it was different in this passage. It says, ‘Do thou rule over him.’ Now this is very different. This is not a promise, it is an order. And I began to stew about it. I wondered what the original word of the original writer had been that these very different translations could be made ...
“My [elders] felt that these words were very important too — ‘Thou shalt’ and ‘Do thou.’ And this was the gold from our mining: ‘Thou mayest.’ ‘Thou mayest rule over sin.’ ...
“The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in ‘Thou shalt,’ meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word timshel — ‘Thou mayest’ — that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’ — it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’ ...
“Now, there are millions in their sects and churches who feel the order, ‘Do thou,’ and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in ‘Thou shalt.’ Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But ‘Thou mayest’! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win.”