collage: grey world

to the left is an assemblage i made a few years ago, which i sold, but i came across this picture of it, and realized that i had never shared it on my blog (at least i don't think i did). this is obviously a black and white assemblage, created in a shadowbox. it's probably too difficult to read on this pic, but there are words on the glasses and they read, "truth is not black and white." and the collage is called "grey world." you can draw your own conclusions.

you may or may not agree with me, and i'm okay with that. but it's my prerogative as an artist to express the world as i encounter it, and hopefully to make others feel or think something in the process.

here's what i think: the older i get, the less sure i am; the more i learn, the less i know; the more i seek, the more i discover that questions - not answers - are the real treasure; and the world is quite simply not as black and white as i once thought it was.

at first this realization was disarming and disorienting. as i grew out of a watertight worldview into something that actually had to deal with reality - and with people - there were some accompanying growing pains. the world didn't fit nicely into my simple, preconceived notions of right and wrong, justice, and truth. things are complicated. words (and The Word) need interpretation. truth grows more real and beautiful in story, while it withers and dies in propositions and dogmas. justice is blind, but mercy, her sister, sees all the darkness. and wisdom? well she mediates between the two. and it just isn't as black and white as i once thought it was. it isn't cut and dried. the world is broken and beautiful. messed up and magical. shipwrecked and shot full of glory. it is black and white and bright orange and deep blue and an entire spectrum of swirled colors. and it is grey, with space for asking real questions, doubting real doubts, and dreaming real dreams. and the truth? the truth is not a destination. it's not written in stone. it's not at the courthouse or the church building. the truth is in the journey - the experience of searching and seeking and knocking and asking and discovering the One who is Truth and Life and Justice and Mercy and Wisdom and Hope and Love.

it is a grey world. and i am happy to be alive in it, discovering the beauty in every moment. grace and peace.

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