Hope and Wisdom

Hope and Wisdom Series

1. Hope
2. Wisdom

The Hope and Wisdom series is an experiment in aging. I got caught by the idea how we change as we grow older. This being perhaps a sensitive topic for some, I therefore decided to subject myself as model for this experiment. I started to create a pose that shows me in a current (perhaps slightly younger…) age. Particularly my hands were the focus of my attention (for more on my fascination with hands, see also The Arch series). Once complete, I then subjected the same pose to an aging process. This was much harder than I thought it would be. Perhaps my ego was still getting in the way a bit. Particularly the aging of the hands was a slow and detailed process. It is easy to create a caricature and that is not what I wanted. These two works were mostly painted by my graphite and charcoal stained fingers, as I found that this me more control in the fine shading work and softening of the lines. The result is interesting although I still cringe a bit with my old face. Once these works were finished I looked at both face expressions and that inspired the titles of these works.

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Hope – Romans 15:13

“Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.”
Wisdom – Job 12:12