Lately, I’ve been doing some thinking about what it means to be culturally aware, or to make culture. “Banished to Culture” is a recent painting that explores the idea of being banished by God from the garden.
This encaustic work includes 2 photo transfers of a man and woman. Discovered at a flea-market, the first photograph is a man, hat in hand, leisurely leaning up against a car. The other is of a young woman with a briefcase about to descend the stairs leading to the subway. What I find especially interesting about these photos (circa 1950) is that it is the woman who is going to work. Both our work and play are culture making activities.
Between the photo transfers is a burning forest. Eden is no longer, but we still have opportunities to create new things out of what is in front of us—doing it all because of Christ who redeemed this chaos.
