The Womb of the World / Between birth and death
Title: "The Womb of the World / Between Birth and Death" (2021)
Size: 40x40"
Acrylic ink dyed kozo collage and mica powder on canvas
From "O Mirabile Mysterium," my body of work illuminating Genesis 1. This work explores Day Two of Creation, when the waters above (the heavens) were separated from the waters below.
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Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
— Genesis 1:6-8 (NASB)
“Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
When I made a cloud its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
And I placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?
— Job 38:8-11 (NASB)
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
—Psalm 78:13-16 (ESV)
Oh God of the waters, you divided the seas by your might. There in the womb of the world, you separated the waters below from the waters above, making a liminal space into which you would speak the materials for our flourishing. Yet, you called nothing good on the second day, for that empty watery womb was still waiting for your creation. The human womb, too, is a liminal space, somewhere that exists outside the passage between birth and death, between salvation and redemption. We've all been born, taken from what was into what is. None of us can remember that before-place—a space that precedes the weighing and the marking of time and sketches the first outlines of a human life. I have been born a second time, too, a gift that came through your water and word.
Oh wonderful mystery of that in-between space! I marvel at the way that you recapitulated the division of water from water for the Israelites when they fled Egypt. On the passage between the waters of the Red Sea, you demanded trust. That middle passage was not the promised land. It was a place, I am sure, of terror and trust. I wonder about Jonah, too, the disobedient prophet in the womb of a fish in the great deep, brought forth from the waters by you, Lord of Creation. You know all of the ends we cannot see.
Lord, give me the courage for my crossing through the waters. I sense my waxing and waning between terror and trust. Hope, though, always seems to win. Faith is nothing if not the light you provided first, before you divided and made the way through the waters. Jesus, you’ve told us in partnership with your beloved John—you are the Light of the world, forever overcoming the dark. Here on the other side of the womb of my baptism, where you brought me through water and into that sojourning place, the place between salvation and the new creation, I wait for you, I look to you, I remind myself who you are and what you have done.
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Original painting in grays, blues, reds, and golds.
All artwork is signed on the back. Can be signed on the front at collector's request.
Keep in mind that paintings can look slightly different in person. I paint using a lot of texture, so they are even better when you can see them in person - it is hard to capture here!
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COPYRIGHT
Artwork is protected by copyright. All images displayed are property of Kelly Kruse. The sale of original artwork does not include the sale of copyright, including rights to reproduce or license imagery. All rights reserved.
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SHIPPING & HANDLING
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