The Meaning
“Mindstorm Body and Spirit” is the second triptych I have ever painted. The first being, “Fallen In Blue/The Stars Cry out for Salvation.” At the top, we see my mind exposed with all the issues and turmoil going on inside of it that are not yet resolved.
To the left of my mind, there are cracked skulls and bones to show all the broken relationships that went on inside my family, especially with my parents, but also with my grandparents, some relatives, and many more outside my bloodline.
Up and to the right of that is a broken male symbol of myself which is bleeding from being wounded by my parents’ marriage (symbolized behind).
Below my symbol are musical notes which express how music helped me deal with the reality of growing up in an abusive home. At a very young age I sat in front of our home stereo system, listening to music for hours at a time.
Above my head center, there is a large cross with a gold crown on the bottom of it which expresses the True and Living God (that I experienced outside of religion) with the crown of Christ. All the other crosses behind the large one indicates all the times I had been confused and fooled about the true nature of God inside my parents’ world of organized religion and ministry.
To the right of my mind are clocks and money that fade into the background which remind me of watching so much time passing me by and all the time my father wasted time talking about money and how he never had enough of it.
On the right of the floating paper money bills are hearts with wings with a broken chain around them, expressing my desire to be free from all the personal issues that my parents blamed me for which clouded up my mind with worry, trouble, and even torment at times.
The next piece down, I have my torso showing my rendition of what I envision my spirit looks like from the inside-out. In the very center of my torso are three eyes representing the Trinity with a ring of fire around them that expresses their desire to rid me of all my issues which have haunted me my whole life.
Around the inside and outside of the ring of fire there are angelic beings looking on in amazement at what The Spirit of the Trinity is doing to rescue me from all harm in the past, right up to the present moment.
Outside of the ring, two dolphins look on with a curious gaze into the work of the Spirit inside me and, beside me, a jellyfish glows in the colors of the fire of the Spirit from a distance recognizing their own Creators works. You can see more angels in awe of what the Spirit does inside of me on the outside edge of the circle.
The bottom piece of the triptych has a shark just waiting to attack me when I least expect it. This is a metaphoric expression of my experiences with the dangerous spirit of evil with the devil in the world attempting to attack and destroy me any chance he gets. This especially manifests when I attempt to seek and understand who God, Son, and Spirit are inside me, and how I can relate in the invisible world of faith.
The process
It is interesting to me how I sketched myself out in this triptych; animated but portrait-like at the same time. I was just getting to understand how to blend skin color with an oil medium and show muscle tone underneath. To give the water more depth perception, I blended it with a few different shades of blue and white with rags, sponges, brushes, and my fingers.
Having myself submerged in water expresses myself being inside the world of God’s Spirit in which I perceive being different than that of the world. So, the idea was that I still have many issues from my past which create confusion and dismay. But, inside there is more going on than I can comprehend, and this was the best way I knew how to describe it at the time, and it still seems relevant to me today.