Nicole Voyles Religious Art and Me. 4/8/11

I am not Christian, as is well established already. However, the art in the Christian faith can have an impact on me. Music especially has power to me. But since I have already posted once on that subject, this essay will focus on paintings. There are lessons to be learned at every turn it seems in christian art. I find a myth wrapped in mystery to me due to my ignorance, and yet a man walking with a heavy burden while others watch and mock is easily understood. An angel coming from the heavens to save a pained person is similarly understood. The angel letting go of the man from the series on aging was particularly powerful. It eluded to every man's journey through life and ultimately the end. The last picture in that series illustrated how little we can know about what lies beyond that end on Earth by showing the angel reaching out to pull him into a clouded background. Mystery and hope mix as I want to see farther beyond those clouds. It's an interesting phenomenon in art to evoke such feelings in a nonbeliever.