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kevissimo — The Grief of Judah
Published: 2010-05-07 09:53:53 +0000 UTC; Views: 5277; Favourites: 171; Downloads: 0
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Description
"You lost two sonsYou lost your wife
She lost two loves
and perhaps a third
Everyone seemed to lose everything in those days and she was your daughter-in-law...though you did not recognize her.
Her veil covered more than her identity and
did you remember your lost love
when you laid with her?
Or did you just lose your ring and your staff as payment that would in the days to come
return to haunt you?
Tamar...the river for a coming Messiah
though none of you knew that then.
Was it her perfume so strangely familiar
like the flowers at the family table
or
was it the darkness
so skillfully so readily spread before you
like a blanket of tears to drown your grief?
Time would draw you sleeping back to the earth
but history will tell of a Light born from your loss. A root of Jesse springing forth from a bloody sheet..."
OILGRAPH (MIXED MEDIA SILVER EMULSION PRINTS, ACRYLIC AND OIL) ON WOODEN PANEL
36"X24"
CREATED IN PERFORMANCE APRIL 18, 2010 AT THEORY LABS
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Comments: 57
Very accurate work
And what about Juda's mother? Her grief?
Mark
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Thank you...and yes, that would be a wonderful subject for a piece. Let me finish Judges....
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I think you're a marvelous artist. I miss the darkroom.
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I'm always so grateful when I stop by your work. I hope you know how powerful your poetry is, too. Thank you for your faith. Thank you for expressing it the way you do.
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Thank you so much....that means the world to me
You made my day
blessings to you...
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This is how we feel the Lost One... trying to hold it, but can't. Can we live with his/her feeling, tring to "hold" it?, do we hold it? Is it still in us or lost?? What I like in your piece is that it's totally philosophical... Really nice piece...
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Wow....thank you so much for that incredible take on this
That was a gift...
Thank you again
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Well the process involves taking the actual darkroom prints and affixing them to the wooden panel. The performance part is when after it's completely covered black in oil paint, I put music on and then begin removing the oil and adding color till it's done. This was ten minutes.
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Amazing! Did somebody video tape the performance?
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Thank you...and yes...though I haven't had the courage to watch it yet. But pretty much all three hours got taped. I'll take a deep breath, finally look through and cut the whole journey together.
Thanks again...
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Oh, please do! I would love to watch the process. It sounds so fascinating!
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Will do....will let you know when something's posted
For the time being here's a couple of videos of other pieces...
[link]
[link]
[link]
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Whoa...so, you're not only removing the black paint to reveal the image beneath, you're also adding more paint to complete that otherworldly feel of the piece?
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Yes....the way it happens varies with each piece, but there's always adding and taking away until it's done.
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The theme itself is interesting enough to consider this artwork a masterpiece. The colours are tragic, the characters are almost apathetic and yet, the religious aspect of this artwork expresses itself more and more.
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Sorry I haven't responded for so long
Thank you very much and for truly "seeing" this piece. That means a great deal to me....truly....
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It's Judah and Tamar. (Read Genesis 38 with the payoff in Matthew 1)
But it's traditional darkroom prints mounted on to a wooden panel with oil paint.
The oil painting part was done live about a month ago.
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Read the lineage...then the whole story makes more sense.
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Thank you...this may be one of my favorites
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no way this has a christian message !!!
i think i m gonna get this group out of my watch list,unfortunately!
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Really no way?
Besides Genesis 38, Ruth 4, Matthew 1 or the fact that God used this encounter to continue the line of the Messiah, are there any other parts of scripture that don't have a Christian message?
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I m not declining the sense and content of the Bible . I m declining the way you bring this thing up . Should we then paint every sexual contact between every ancestor of Lord Jesus because they just ''continued the line of the Messiah''.Please be serious!
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No...nor is that what I'm doing and I'm trusting you can see that. This story in particular is emblematic of how God took the brokeness of people and in his sovereignty, worked for a necessary end. And to that end it reveals probably one of the most powerful aspects of the Christian message and the nature of God. It is one of the most incredible stories in all of scripture and historically, all that ever gets discussed is a bad isogesis in regards to Onan.
I rarely feel the need to explain the work, but in this case I will. Read the text, look at his face and tell me that it is merely a depiction of a sexual encounter. It's about loss. Judah lost his wife and two of his sons. Tamar, arguably had a supernatural need to have a child. The work isn't explicit, focuses on the emotions of the subjects and I feel takes a mature view on an important story that is almost entirely overlooked.
Personally I see that Biblical art has nearly vanished from the church. We're not telling our story any more. Yes this may be one of the more trickier stories, but it is an important one nonetheless and certainly not the only one I've done nor will do. This piece was transformative for me both artistically and spiritually. The painting aspect was done live, in ten minutes, in front of a room full of a hundred people who heard this story and God's hand in it. If you can't see my intent in this then I'm sorry...
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If u would show this paint in an art exhibition ,what would somebody think of it?
What is the message he/she gets from it?
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Well, just look at all of the other comments...namely primulatook's.
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If nothing else, this image has moved me and compelled me to read and attempt to understand the meaning behind the story, or just to simply try to understand what it is that is in question.
This image is a blessing to those who understand it and a blessing to those who WANT to understand it. It is a rather compelling image.
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You rock...thank you. That was my hope...
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This is definitely a very complex composition. I am a student of the Bible and I can tell you that not everybody is going to get it or even be aware of the Biblical message. I certainly praise the image for two reasons. One, I think it does inspire someone to go read this passage and become more familiar with the content of the Word. It makes the Bible more real and in touch with man because it doesn't seem so elitist anymore. Jesus didn't just come from a line of kings who did super human feats, but rather also people who had faults like you and me. I'm sure many people who see this are going, "Man, I didn't know that was in the Bible!"
The second thing is that its a unique perspective that is relatively not explored. Ely862me commented, "Should we then paint every sexual contact between every ancestor of Lord Jesus because they just 'continued the line of the Messiah?'" Well that's not a fair question and he/she is missing the point. This is unique. It hasn't been explored before. Its like asking should every painting about the Bible be about Adam and Eve since they were nude? No, there is many depictions of that already, but there is also so much to explore. People are way to sensitive about NOT including sex in the Bible when the Bible does so much TO INCLUDE it. Rahab was a prostitute from Jericho, also in the line of Christ and mother of Boaz who eventually marries Ruth. I'm sure ely862me would freak out if he/she were to read Ezekiel 23, particularly verse 20. Is quite appalling that the author is that graphic, but hey, its there. Apologies for being so verbose.
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Thank you so much for that....NO apologies necessary...
You nail it. You saw exactly what I had hoped...and get what I was after. The Bible is a totality of our nature; the good and the bad and God intersecting in the midst. If we are to do Biblical art any justice then we must show all of it. Some just want it all pretty and it's just not that way...
Thanks again for all of that...made my day.
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cool. I'll def be keeping a closer eye on what you do.
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It almost looks like he's blowing the life out of her, what with the colors exploding beneath him so. The lack of her mouth makes it for me, too.
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You rock...thank you...
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such a compelling story...
he was the law-breaker and she compelled him to keep the law -
and so he spoke, "she is more righteous than i"
this is a wonderful work
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You make my day....and yes, it's probably the most compelling story in all of scripture.
Thank you...always always...
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I looooooove this 
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Thanks so much...sorry to respond so late...
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