In the Beginning

By: Richard III

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Panel

Dimensions: 24in x 30in

Year: 2023

Status: Private Collection / Available

In the Beginning : The Unshipping

In the Beginning serves as a visual heartbeat of creation, capturing the kinetic energy of the moment the divine "Let there be light" was first spoken. It is a spiritual re-envisioning of the cosmos before the formal boundaries of Earth or the galaxies were established—a glimpse into the mind of the Creator where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit initiate the fabric of existence. By utilizing a pour paint medium, the work embraces a sporadic and light-hearted energy, allowing the materials to "shape themselves." This technique mirrors the theological concept of Kenosis, or divine self-emptying, suggesting that creation was not a rigid, mechanical construction, but a fluid extension of the Creator’s own essence.

The palette of vibrant purples, deep blues, and shimmering golds captures a specific beauty found in the "unshaping"—the raw potentiality of existence. These colors act as the "first seeds" of matter, scattered across a heavy, fertile silence that reacts to the introduction of light. Unlike a meticulously planned piece, this painting was born of a paradox: as soon as it began, it felt complete, reflecting the Alpha and Omega where the beginning and the end exist simultaneously.

The true creative challenge lay in the intentional restraint required to stop. To capture the essence of something becoming, the artist had to set the brush down the moment shapes began to take hold, preventing the "Infinite" from being confined by the "Finite." The result is a work that exists in a perpetual state of birth, inviting the viewer to witness the exact moment where the Holy Spirit moves over the face of the waters and potentiality meets reality.