Two Faces
Canvas 24” x 30”
Time: Approx. 2 hours on January 13th, 2019
Cost: $1,500
Artist Statement
“For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.” 2 Thess. 5:5, (NIV)
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:...” Ephesians 1:1 (KJV)
Pastor Doug talked about more in depth about our natural tendency to shield ourselves from shame by putting on a mask, which started in the Garden of Eden. When we sin, we assume we are still messed up sinners which deepens the old wiring in our brains--making sure that our negative behavior patterns will continue. Instead, when we believe and declare to each other the truth of the New Covenant, that we have been made SAINTS by Jesus’ life in us, we allow our brains to get rewired. We begin to see and act different. We can just be ourselves more of the time. Failure is no longer proof we are doomed, but a wake-up call to depend on Him. A dependence that brings life to us and those around us.
In the painting, The female figure is heavy with pain which mirrors my own story, Shame and the Devil’s lies hit me like a storm. (“I’m a loser, I’ll never get it right.”) I am stuck in fear and despair, my focus is on my failures, not His loving eyes, I’m alone in the cold. My instincts kick in--my mask protects me, it imprisons me. The mask is grey like death. Next to her is a brother in Christ; he is letting Jesus be his vision as he confesses her true identity--”I see who you really are: You are a SAINT because of Christ’s finished work!” She believes. She let’s go. The mask cracks. The Light within pierces through! She reaches up and starts ripping off the mask; joy swallows up her pain! She is about to leave her mask behind like an empty tomb! And, she will walk in the Light, more and more of the time, with a longing for everyone to be free!