Multifaceted

The idea for this painting came to me in April 2017, as recorded in my journal:

“A picture - a multi-sided, multi-faced shape (dodecahedron or whatever). There are many sides / faces to God, faith etc. Most (if not all) present one side / face at a time, but it is part of a complex shape. It doesn’t make it any less true. A helpful picture for me perhaps? But maybe God is more like a circle, the sides fade away and he is one whole shape - but one you can’t get a handle on. Maybe we need the sides to get a handle on who God is like!”

The idea that God has many sides / faces and that we can’t see all of them at once stuck with me. I’ve painted a couple of versions of it in my art journal over the years, and then recently I decided I wanted to create a larger version. The process began with learning how to draw a dodecahedron and trying out different ways of painting it - I chose to use the silver paint you see here. It’s painted on canvas board, and titled ‘Multifaceted’. For me it is an image of God - not a traditional one, but one that reminds me that I cannot fully know or comprehend God, what I see or understand is only in part.