An Image of God

The Trinity was painted by a Russian painter Andrei Rublev during the 15^th century in the “orthodoxy period”. This time period is represented by the use of symbols and icons. This painting epitomizes both of those qualities. It depicts the three angels who visited Abraham at the Oak of Mamre -but is often interpreted as an icon of the Trinity. Each one depicted in the picture has the same face and a partial blue garment signifying that the trinity is one. Yet there is another garment unique to each one that signifies their specific role in the Trinity. “The Holy Spirit” is represented by the one on the far right. He wears a green robe representing new life. Behind his shoulder is also a mountain that represents a place that people often encounter God. (Moses, Jesus, etc.) The one in the middle represents Christ. He wears a brown garment representing earth and his humanity and the gold stripe represents his kingship. His head is also inclined towards the figure on the left. The last figure, on the far left, is God. He has the blue for divinity and the shimmering-ethereal robe representing his ultimate authority on heaven and earth. Behind him is a house representing the dwelling place of God. Lastly, what is important to note is that they are not a closed circle, but instead they are open. This action invites us into the picture showing their love and acceptance of us. This piece ultimately has become one of the most well known icons for the trinity in existence.

I chose this image because my mother loves this image. She is a humanities teacher and each year print laminated bookmarks with this image on it for her students and gives it to them when she is teaching about it. When I was young she gave one to me and it has been a constant in my bible ever since. It wasn’t until I took her class in 10^th grade that I understood the full interpretation of it. 

I chose the snowflake as my second image because I love the notion that everything is created by God and has a unique design and purpose. You can even see His fingerprints in something as small and minute as a snowflake. The care and complexity He took when creating us is unfathomable.

It is difficult to compare my image with these because I created my image as an interpretation of the Trinity.
 I chose that image to represent God, then I melted crayons using the significant colors and photographed that. Therefore, my image mostly interprets God in a similar way that the Trinity does with the symbolism and the involvement of the onlooker. The snowflake is more a representation of God’s care and complexity rather than an image of Him.

Landscape

I would agree that the earthwork is a process where one must work with nature and be a part of it to create the art. Andy Goldsworthy does an excellent job of being completely involved in nature whenever he does a project. He even lets nature destroy it again. However, when arguing the landscape I think that isn’t as black and white as the previous statement is making it seem. The artist does have the camera and they are masters of the picture in that they decide where and how they want to take the photograph to be taken. In the same way the earth-worker decides how he wants to place each stick or leaf when building his art, the photographer must place each angle in the best perspective to capture the glories of the landscape in front of him. Taking a picture of a beautiful landscape and discovering how to best capture that land is not an isolating selfish act, but rather a honoring and appreciating act of the beauty that one can then share with others. I would argue that capturing a landscape is actually a glorification of God and appreciating the wonders that he has made. It does not reflect the control that we think we have because we took the picture. Through a camera we are simply catching a shadow or reflection of what God has already made. When my family travelled out west over the summer we saw beautiful mountains and landscapes. My camera finger was tired from all the pictures I took, not because I was so proud of what I had captured, but because I never wanted to forget the wonders that I beheld and the awesomeness that God creates. 

 My landscape is a celebration of the earth. It glorifies the wonder of God through the power of the water, the beautiful changing colors of the leaves on the trees, the changing of seasons, and the sunlight that shines over our world. It is an attempt to capture the glory and majesty of God’s creations.

Body Image

The statue if the Riace Warrior is a portrait of the ideal man probably around the time of Late Classical or Hellenistic Greece. He has a confidence stance. He is noble, bold, self-assured; he is a warrior. His body is represented in proper proportions displaying that his muscles are at peak performance, he is fit beyond comparison. His somewhat relaxed stance gives him the air of confidence that lets others know that he is not a man to be trifled with. There is no one and nothing that can stand in this man’s way. He may represent an image of the god Zeus or Poseidon, as seen by his right hand he probably once held a staff or weapon in it. There is no wonder why he would be considered the ideal man. He represents the ideals of Greek culture; athleticism, strength, imperialism, and democracy. He is freedom.   

I cannot examine the human body without my scientific perspective playing a role in shaping the image of what the ideal body should be. I would like to be a physical therapist and this places my passion on the health of human beings and the call from God to have our bodies be a temple for him. What does this mean? I believe it means to take care of the bodies he has given us by exercising, eating healthily, and devoting time to spiritual renewal of the mind and heart. In my pictures I was simply attempting to capture my perspective mixed in with America’s growing emphasis on fitness and athleticism. Therefore, in my photos I attempt to interpret the body of 2012 using this concept of the “ideal man”. In our country there is a growing emphasis on fitness. For men there has always been this pressure to be active and athletic, but now for women also there is a shift from the skinny supermodel to being fit. I wanted to focus on this confidence through fitness as portrayed previously by the Riace Warrior. The body is the first way the you present yourself to the world and I believe that this growing emphasis on fitness has become the new ideal way to present yourself to the world. When you are able to take care of yourself and push your body to its peak physical limits there is a sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with that. Much like the Greeks of old the athlete is “back in”. There is a huge emphasis in our world, as displayed through the Olympics this summer, on the athletic body being the ultimate and ideal body of 2012.