An Experiment on the Distortion and Containment of the Divine

15 x 12 / Oil on Panel
Limited edition giclee prints available via www.paulbondart.com

Arguably, a major turning point in human history came when cultures ceased to see God or The Divine as being inherent within all objects - but as separate from both man and nature. Over millennia, we then stopped treating our planet and each other with reverence. The idea for this painting came from an image of a science experiment. A burning candle isolated in a jar – here symbolizing a separated God – uses up the available oxygen and starts pulling water from the surrounding bowl. The displacement of water creates a distorted view of the objects. The black bird represents the human race, seen by some as sinful by nature and forever separate from its divine source. Physics has proven that all matter and energy is connected, that we are the physical manifestations of the same Divine force that birthed the stars. And it is my hope that this will also hearken a desperately needed evolution of the human race.