DEEP: an exhibition at Christ Church in conjunction with the fall sermon series

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Christ Church, Lake Forest, Illinois
September - October, 2015

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