Fractured Faith

I decided to do something different with this piece. It's sort of a dry brush look, inspired by the dry brush filter in Photoshop. I was messing around to see if I could paint the same appearance as the filter. I think it's pretty close.

I painted this piece for the cover of my Fractured Faith book, which is being released next month. I wanted it to look rough to better compliment the topic of the book so a dry brush appearance was ideal.


The Anatomy of Symbolism

A great deal of thought went into the development of the fractured faith painting so I thought it fitting to take a moment to explore the symbolism of this piece, which has been a profound inspiration to me for many years.

Most significantly, the corroded, industrial construction of the cross symbolizes the erosion of the Christian icon that has paralleled our industrial growth. The more we develop technologically the further we seem to stray from our faith; the more our faith is fractured. We become lost in the temptations of the flesh, idolizing technology rather than our Lord. The shiny armor faith provides becomes tarnished and our spiritual foundation grows unstable. We easily fall prey to temptation.

The tilt of the cross represents the imbalance of faith most people suffer. Their faith may at times be balanced but when faced with times of strife their faith goes off kilter; it fractures and it becomes awkward to follow their path, to appreciate the gifts God has given them.

The hole in the wall behind the cross symbolizes the damaged spirit of so many who claim to be ‘saved.’ They hide behind the righteousness of the cross but the reality is they are hollow spiritually; trapped in the perils of the flesh rather than living free in the spirit of faith. When life brings them challenges their faith falters, tilts if you will, and their truth is revealed for all to see as they broadcast how they were forsaken by the Lord. Their faith, again, fractured.

There is much more symbolism to this painting but I’ll leave that to you to discover.

I hope you enjoy Fractured Faith.