ANNA DAVIDSON

           Metaphysics and seeking an understanding of God has influenced my life for as long as I can remember. This inspiring search has connected me to Christian Science, of which Mary Baker Eddy is the founder. In her writings, Eddy defines God with seven synonyms: Life, Truth, Love, Principle, Soul, Spirit, and Mind. My interest in these qualities, coupled with a desire to reflect more on their meaning, originally guided my capstone intentions. I planned to use art to articulate a literal sense of these words. ​

            Conceptually, I had many ideas as to how I thought these qualities could be illustrated. I at first worked to implement these various concepts, yet none of them felt adequate when executed. It proved to be difficult to take something as seemingly abstract as God and to then translate these synonyms into formal visual elements.

            While I was working through this challenge, I began doing studies of anything I felt compelled to do creatively. I hoped it would fine tune which mediums felt best to me when looking to define spiritual characteristics. It was through these studies that I realized there was a form with which I repeatedly created when looking to present Godlike qualities. Flowers. 

            Interestingly, flowers embody endless qualities that I associate with God. Their simplistic or detailed forms, colors, diverse nature, and liveliness all caused me to agree with Mary Baker Eddy’s statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that “floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity” (240:6). After coming to terms with this unexpected method for depicting spiritual elements of God’s nature, I was able to move forward with this exploration of a metaphysical theme. 

            In terms of my finished pieces, each composition in this series has developed from one of my own photographs. Through the use of watercolor paint and ink pen, I’ve been engaged with the contrast between maintaining sharp control while drawing, and the loose characteristics of watercolor when painting. Large washes of watercolor paint lend themselves to spontaneity while the guidance of delicate ink lines enables connection within the forms – both qualities which I associate with God.

            Overall, this series has allowed numerous concepts in thought to unfold through art. Despite much planning early on for one concept to be carried out, this new direction truly ‘bloomed’ midway through my capstone experience and has been a reflective journey for me ever since. The metaphysical representations of art and nature have just begun to harmonize with me and I’m grateful for this process which has allowed the union of so many spiritual principles to better come into focus.