The silence of the Angel

“The Silence of the Angel”: the angel stands with his back to you. The wings are visible and they do not work as a symbol here. A back, wings, no ceremony.

“The Silence of the Angel”, 130 × 90 cm on canvas, mixed media.

I turned him away from the viewer deliberately. The angel is not the thing to look at. Look where he looks.

He is looking at the sky, and there is nothing else on the canvas: no ground, no horizon, no second figure.

Gold is spread deep inside the sky and the light has no source. It is everywhere at once, which is why it never glares.

The clouds are white and heavy, built in thick paste. Put a palm against that sky and there is matter in it.

I am not explaining faith. I needed the state where a person understands they are not alone, with the room quiet and nothing offered as proof.

It wants a calm wall. A bedroom, a study, a room kept for quiet.