Teach Us to Number Our Days
Christ Church, Lake Forest, Illinois
September - October, 2015
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| Teach Us to Number Our Days, 2015, oil on panel |
Link to the exhibition catalog: DEEP
ARTIST STATEMENT
Jane Ellefson
Teach Us to Number Our Days
2015
Oil on panel
This is a painting about divine design, wisdom,
and humility. It depicts my father’s
transition into eternity and is based on Psalm 90:12, “Lord, teach us to number
our days aright so that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” and Proverbs 11:2,
“With humility comes wisdom.”
God’s wisdom is evident throughout all
creation and is woven into the intricacies of our lives – even to the moment of
our death. The superimposed grid and
spiral reference the mathematical Golden Mean (aka Divine Proportion), which is
echoed in the spiral of the shell. This
work references Lamentation of the Dead
Christ by Mantegna.
Andrea Mantegna, Lamentation of the Dead Christ, tempera on canvas, c. 1480
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy
