Imbroglio - Waters of Strife February 2014 Acrylics on Canvas Format: ca. 60x80 cm Painting and Text: Gian Merlevede Imbroglio <Italian> /ɪmˈbroʊljoʊ/
Disagreement of a complicated nature, complicated state of affairs, an extremely confused situation, an entanglement, an acutely painful or embarrassing misunderstanding, a violently confused or bitterly complicated altercation →Pronunciation →dictionary.reference.com Waters of Strife (Hebr. Waters of Meribah). Meribah or Mirabah means quarreling. This concept goes back to the biblical event where the Israelites murmured and rebelled against God. →Waters of Strife in Biblehub.com →Psalm 106:32-48 →Numbers 20:13 |
Imbroglio - Waters of Strife
Takeaway value Though there are many similarities with the themes of The Dark Throne and Wrestling in the Sea with the One, the theme of this painting takes a new visual stand altogether. We zoom in on the theme of a stack amidst of a calm sea. My unintended strife with the biblical God and Creator continues. It often feels awkward to grapple with Him, since how do you "quarrel and argue" with a Person of stature that always comes through honorable? Nothing more fascinating. There´s no way around the mess. Relationships are bound to be messy to some degree, otherwise they necessarily end up stale and dead. No way around it really. Blood, sweat and tears have us grounded to reality, likewise they ground us into truely divine stuff. But getting rid of false ego takes courage. No neat course, and no easy process tackled overnight. I am glad that the Living One wants to be my ally. Even more, that He takes time to earnestly father me. Brutal as earthly reality can be, the more precious the hard-fought glimpses on His personality come shining through. I painted this painting almost overnight. The picture opens up and withdraws at the same time. I´m grateful for its expressive, yet barred mystery. I sense an all-consuming tension between the horizontal and vertical axis. Never underestimate the ocean, simpering or not. Then there´s the brutality of the massive rock rising up, standing erected. A total of impelling powerplay and momentum. This sea stack has something impregnable. It seems to carry molten rock material within. An igneous carrier of jammed soul. The pyrogenic strata weave and intertwine, like zigzag. In my imagination this interlaced pattern has something of feathers and wings - angel´s wings. An evocation of a celestial attendant of God folding together its pair(s) of wings. A Cherub or Seraph covering its body in reverence. To me this sea stack is both a rock and a visual metaphor symbolizing the actual event of approaching before the exalted seat of the living God. Though the angelic being seems to be witholding itself, even taking a bow in front of the viewer, this delegate comes with awesome presence. It all feels paradoxical and slightly embarrasing. Unsettling also, the fact that God wants to meet with created man at eye level. As if any minute the viscous rock could split open and I would be sucked into higher dimensions. I am materially and spiritually connected whether I realize it or not. To me, what mirrors here, is an intrinsic kinship. The mindblowing tangency with an encapsulating realm. |
Copyright Artborne Erdeborn / Merlevede