Artist Statement:
Observed and Recorded Permutation of The Holy Spirit
When was the last time you felt the wind or detected its presence? Was it an unsympathetic gale or a warm, cordial breeze that crossed over you, making itself known?
I had an encounter with something much like that but more considerate and tenacious. My experience was life-altering.
I have come to understand that what I experienced was the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity. The Holy Spirit is a paradoxical being who is powerful yet gentle, unknowable and extremely personal, logical and yet inscrutable.
I am making portraits of the Holy Spirit in the foreground of a landscape, caught in a fraction of a moment. They are meant to represent the chaotic and the intentional nature of God.
I start out with a drawing and proceed to remove from it until the purest essence of color and form remain. The process is reductive, which mirrors scripture. Referring to Jesus, John the Baptist says, “He must increase and I must decrease.” Scripture is the philosophical vantage point from which I work.
The pieces in this series are made of pastel on a plastic paper. Not fixed to the surface. They represent the permutations of wind. And of the Holy Spirit.
pamela diaz martinez 2017