i attended an event called “reflect.” it was organized by a friend of my, nathan troester. the basic format was this; a group of artists gathered to hear a short theological reflection. it was about 10 minutes. the topic was the transcendance/eminence of God. then we discussed the ideas that were presented and after that began to work on projects that were based on the ideas and concepts we had just heard, using the medium of our choice. there was calligraphy, sculpture, film, photography, music and more. i of course chose linocut printmaking.
as i meditated on the concepts of the transcendance/eminence of God, my thoughts were drawn toward the name that God gives himself, “I AM.” this name speak of self-existence, completely independent upon anything else for survival. transcendence defined (and named). i also thought about the Christian doctrine of God-incarnate in the person of Jesus. about how he had a body, hair: a beard. eminence. from these thoughts i also moved into thinking about the material/immaterial dichotomy. immaterial God, material man. I AM material, as it were. i’mmaterial. and that was the concept.
within the swirls of the piece, you can see the word i’mmaterial. and the line is a continuous, unbreaking line, symbolic of the infinite. i also wanted to capture the idea of humanity, so i used a pattern that to me is evocative of hair, a beard to be more specific.
