Their death was a birth to them into another life, into the glory of God; It ended one Circle, and created another; for immortality, and eternity is a Circle too; not a Circle where two points meet, but a Circle made at once; This life is a Circle, made with a Compass, that passes from point to point; That life is a Circle stamped with a print, an endless, and perfect Circle, as soon as it begins. Of this Circle, the Mathematician is our great and good God; The other Circle we make up ourselves; we bring the Cradle, and Grave together by a course of nature.
John Donne, Sermon XXVII, 1619
John Donne, Sermon XXVII, 1619
My search for these paintings began in the spring of 2018 as I started to study the book of Ecclesiastes and its central word, הֶבֶל (hevel). In his lectures on Biblical wisdom literature, Father Joseph Koterski describes hevel as one of the few Hebrew terms that is decidedly abstract—he says that in the language concrete words are typically used to express abstractions. Because of this, the word bears explanation beyond its translation into English. Hevel literally means vapor, smoke, or breath, implying that it is a physical thing you can’t grasp. There is so much about life that is hevel: we can glimpse it for a moment, but it isn’t concrete. And it’s not just the world that is this way; there is so much about our very nature that is hevel.
Another foundational word for this body of work is the word Geheimnis [guh-heim-niss], which is German for secret. My first body of work was based on the Romantic choral and orchestral work by Johannes Brahms, Ein Deutsches Requiem. A Requiem mass is a traditional mass for the dead, but the Brahms Requiem is meant to wrestle with transience and hope. The climax of the work comes with a setting of 1 Corinthians 15:51--Siehe, ich sage euch ein Geheimnis--Behold, I show you a mystery. Can language or music fully portray the mystery of the Resurrection of the Dead? Maybe not, but that didn’t stop Paul from God-breathing a promise through the limits of language, and it didn’t stop Brahms from trying to capture a sliver of the mystery through twelve notes. I show you a secret thing, they invite—Paul’s words, Brahms’s music, and the spirit of God--I’ll show you a sliver of a thing that no man can fully see.
My goal with this work is the same. I want to invite you to come closer, with me, to consider the unseen. Together, we can carve out a space to contemplate human creaturehood and the God who holds it all in his hand. This exhibit, admittedly, is a firehose of ideas. There is too much to take in in one sitting. Every work in this exhibit felt impossible from the outset. How could I possibly capture the essence of any of these things? I think it is telling that the central word of Ecclesiastes, hevel, is an abstract word for a kind of enigma. The word occurs 38 times in the book, which accounts for more than half of its usage in the Old Testament. Every time I encountered it in my study, I was reminded that I had to be comfortable knowing I wouldn’t come close to grasping the meaning of all of it, let alone portraying it on canvas.
As I made this work, I tried to keep these things in mind: God is unseeable, and yet, he invites us to look for him. God is incomprehensible, and yet he invites us to know him. The human soul is immortal, and yet every human being is subject to death. The phrase under the sun (or something like it) occurs 30 times in Ecclesiastes, and it refers to life in a world that is not as it is supposed to be. Life is filled with beauty, pleasure, and meaning, but all of it eventually comes to an end under the sun. This is a sobering thought, and something upon which I tried to keep my eyes fixed as I created this work.
Another foundational word for this body of work is the word Geheimnis [guh-heim-niss], which is German for secret. My first body of work was based on the Romantic choral and orchestral work by Johannes Brahms, Ein Deutsches Requiem. A Requiem mass is a traditional mass for the dead, but the Brahms Requiem is meant to wrestle with transience and hope. The climax of the work comes with a setting of 1 Corinthians 15:51--Siehe, ich sage euch ein Geheimnis--Behold, I show you a mystery. Can language or music fully portray the mystery of the Resurrection of the Dead? Maybe not, but that didn’t stop Paul from God-breathing a promise through the limits of language, and it didn’t stop Brahms from trying to capture a sliver of the mystery through twelve notes. I show you a secret thing, they invite—Paul’s words, Brahms’s music, and the spirit of God--I’ll show you a sliver of a thing that no man can fully see.
My goal with this work is the same. I want to invite you to come closer, with me, to consider the unseen. Together, we can carve out a space to contemplate human creaturehood and the God who holds it all in his hand. This exhibit, admittedly, is a firehose of ideas. There is too much to take in in one sitting. Every work in this exhibit felt impossible from the outset. How could I possibly capture the essence of any of these things? I think it is telling that the central word of Ecclesiastes, hevel, is an abstract word for a kind of enigma. The word occurs 38 times in the book, which accounts for more than half of its usage in the Old Testament. Every time I encountered it in my study, I was reminded that I had to be comfortable knowing I wouldn’t come close to grasping the meaning of all of it, let alone portraying it on canvas.
As I made this work, I tried to keep these things in mind: God is unseeable, and yet, he invites us to look for him. God is incomprehensible, and yet he invites us to know him. The human soul is immortal, and yet every human being is subject to death. The phrase under the sun (or something like it) occurs 30 times in Ecclesiastes, and it refers to life in a world that is not as it is supposed to be. Life is filled with beauty, pleasure, and meaning, but all of it eventually comes to an end under the sun. This is a sobering thought, and something upon which I tried to keep my eyes fixed as I created this work.
Mystery: that which is secret
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. -Hebrews 11:3
Left to right:
All artworks are sold in this section with the exception of panel #4: The untraversable plain / The secret name
- The Mystery of Mysteries:
A glimpse over the unknowable edge / I look, but I cannot see - The Mystery of the Beginning and the End:
Where were you? / From everlasting to everlasting - The Mystery of Sehnsucht:
Eternity flows around this bank and shoal of time - The Mystery of the Secret Heart:
The untraversable plain / The secret name - The Mystery of the Resurrection of the Dead:
Your dead shall live / Siehe, ich sage euch ein Geheimnis
All artworks are sold in this section with the exception of panel #4: The untraversable plain / The secret name
Transience: that which passes away
Human life, in its most basic significance, is bound up with the fact that we are temporal beings. We emerge from an inexplicable nothingness; and at their end, lives disappear into what is perhaps that same nothingness. Mortality may be obvious, but in our era, it is no longer a central concern of discussion, even of theological discussion. In popular discourse about life’s significance, even many Christians will point to something that lies outside of time. We often hear people describe the “meaning of life” in terms that stand beyond the limits of birth and death. A common religious presupposition is that life is “more than” the stuff that happens in being born and dying, and certainly more than simply the things that happen in between birth and death. This presupposition itself is not wrong insofar as it assumes the meaning of life in that which gives life—that is, in God. Still, while we can rightly say that human life is both oriented to and grounded in God, we must begin a reflection on our lives elsewhere than in the simple fact of God if we are to be faithful to what is human about our lives. It is, after all, God who has fashioned this particular humanness that is given in birth, living, and dying. Questions regarding “eternal life” must therefore be raised only after we have faced carefully the realities of temporal existence.
Ephraim Radner, A Time to Keep
Ephraim Radner, A Time to Keep
Top row, left to right, followed by bottom row, which is one work:
All artworks in this section are sold, except for panel 3: Coats of Skins/The Tunic of Grace
- The Transience of Human Progress:
Quis es homo? / Coffins and cradles - The Transience of Achievement and Acquisition:
The business of gathering and collecting / Naked as he came - The Transience of the Body:
Coats of Skins / The Tunic of Grace - The Transience of The Generations:
The Genealogical Train of Grace / Children of children - The Transience of Time:
The Great Traversal / Kaì Kairòs
i. Infancy
ii. Childhood
iii. Adolescence
iv. Youth
v. Maturity
vi. Old Age
vii. Death
All artworks in this section are sold, except for panel 3: Coats of Skins/The Tunic of Grace
Glory: that which endures forever
Their death was a birth to them into another life, into the glory of God; It ended one Circle, and created another; for immortality, and eternity is a Circle too; not a Circle where two points meet, but a Circle made at once; This life is a Circle, made with a Compass, that passes from point to point; That life is a Circle stamped with a print, an endless, and perfect Circle, as soon as it begins. Of this Circle, the Mathematician is our great and good God; The other Circle we make up ourselves; we bring the Cradle, and Grave together by a course of nature.
John Donne, Sermon XXVII, 1619
John Donne, Sermon XXVII, 1619
From left to right:
All artworks in this section are sold, except for panel 2: The Body of Christ/Covered with the Robe of Christ + panel 3: Full of infinite Grace / Chi Rho
- The Glory of the City of God:
If we have the light, we shall be light / O Oriens - The Glory of the Body of Christ:
The Body of Christ / Covered with the Robe of Christ - The Glory of the Tree of Life:
Full of infinite Grace / Chi Rho - The Glory of the Word of God:
The word burns in the bush of human nature / A possession for eternity - The Glory of the Immortal Soul:
Formed from the dust / Anima Mundi
All artworks in this section are sold, except for panel 2: The Body of Christ/Covered with the Robe of Christ + panel 3: Full of infinite Grace / Chi Rho
Order the Geheimnis Book
The Geheimnis soft-cover book contains all of the artwork, essays, and behind-the-scenes photos from this body of work. They are 6"x9" and 97 pages. Each book is signed by the artist.
BEHIND THE SCENES GALLERY
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EXHIBIT information
Geheminis is my first exhibition designed to be a traveling show. It will show several places during 2020-2021.
The exhibit was originally scheduled to show in Kansas City and Minneapolis in summer 2020, but the exhibit was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
SOJOURN ARTS
Louisville, KY: March 7, 2020 -
(CLOSED DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC)
FOUR CHAPTER GALLERY
208 W 19th St
Kansas City, MO 64108
June, July, and August 2021
JUNE FIRST FRIDAY RECEPTION*:
JUNE 4, 5:30-9 PM
Saturday: June 12, 2-4 PM*
Thursday: June 17, 6-8 PM
Wednesday: June 23, 6-8 PM*
Saturday: June 26, 2-4 PM
Wednesday: June 30, 6-8 PM*
JULY FIRST FRIDAY RECEPTION*:
JULY 2, 5:30-9 PM
Thursday: July 8, 6-8 PM
Saturday: July 10, 2-4 PM
Wednesday: July 14, 6-8 PM*
Thursday: July 15 6-8 PM
Wednesday: July 21 6-8 PM*
Saturday: July 24, 2-4 PM
AUGUST FIRST FRIDAY RECEPTION & ARTIST TALK*:
AUGUST 6, 5:30-9 PM, ARTIST TALK AT 7:30PM
Saturday: August 14, 2-4 PM
Wednesday: August 11, 6-9 PM - Ecclesiastes Through Art Seminar (almost full) - contact to find out more
*Kelly will be in attendance at all starred dates.
JOHN XXIII GALLERY, THE BASILICA OF ST. MARY
Minneapolis, MN: October 6 - December 5, 2021
More information here.
Exhibit Hours:
Weekdays 7:00am-12:30pm
Saturdays 4:30-6:30pm
Sundays 7:00am-6:30pm
Or contact Kathy Dhaemers at 612.317.3438 to make an appointment.
Geheminis is my first exhibition designed to be a traveling show. It will show several places during 2020-2021.
The exhibit was originally scheduled to show in Kansas City and Minneapolis in summer 2020, but the exhibit was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
SOJOURN ARTS
Louisville, KY: March 7, 2020 -
(CLOSED DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC)
FOUR CHAPTER GALLERY
208 W 19th St
Kansas City, MO 64108
June, July, and August 2021
JUNE FIRST FRIDAY RECEPTION*:
JUNE 4, 5:30-9 PM
Saturday: June 12, 2-4 PM*
Thursday: June 17, 6-8 PM
Wednesday: June 23, 6-8 PM*
Saturday: June 26, 2-4 PM
Wednesday: June 30, 6-8 PM*
JULY FIRST FRIDAY RECEPTION*:
JULY 2, 5:30-9 PM
Thursday: July 8, 6-8 PM
Saturday: July 10, 2-4 PM
Wednesday: July 14, 6-8 PM*
Thursday: July 15 6-8 PM
Wednesday: July 21 6-8 PM*
Saturday: July 24, 2-4 PM
AUGUST FIRST FRIDAY RECEPTION & ARTIST TALK*:
AUGUST 6, 5:30-9 PM, ARTIST TALK AT 7:30PM
Saturday: August 14, 2-4 PM
Wednesday: August 11, 6-9 PM - Ecclesiastes Through Art Seminar (almost full) - contact to find out more
*Kelly will be in attendance at all starred dates.
JOHN XXIII GALLERY, THE BASILICA OF ST. MARY
Minneapolis, MN: October 6 - December 5, 2021
More information here.
Exhibit Hours:
Weekdays 7:00am-12:30pm
Saturdays 4:30-6:30pm
Sundays 7:00am-6:30pm
Or contact Kathy Dhaemers at 612.317.3438 to make an appointment.