LETTER FROM MY FATHER

By: Richard III

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions: 24in x 30in

Year: 2022

Status: Private Collection / Unavailable

Letter From My Father (2022)

In Letter From My Father, the traditional hierarchy of a painting is intentionally inverted to prioritize the spiritual over the physical. While the foreground features the striking, tactile connection of two hands, the true essence of the work resides in the golden background. The text is not a mere backdrop; it is the negative space that demands the observer’s focus, forcing the eye to intake the entire scene as an atmosphere rather than a single subject. By allowing the words to occupy the space surrounding the figure, the focus becomes the void itself—now filled not with absence, but with a foundational narrative of divine recognition and intentionality.

This piece acts as a direct response to "The Unsanctified Mirror" and the feelings of unworthiness that once clouded the artist's earlier works. It represents a deliberate movement away from documenting the darkness and toward the grace of High Heaven. By rendering the Father’s words in a vibrant, teal script against the gold, the work transforms a past of romanticized lack into a present of abundant love, effectively scarring and sealing the spiritual state once known as the Hollow. The grip of the hands represents the supporting forces of the Holy Spirit and the Father, providing a stabilizing grace that anchors the soul against the pull of past isolations. Ultimately, Letter From My Father serves as a visual testimony of lineage, reminding the viewer that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that the voice of the Father remains the true architect of identity.