#Divine feminine paintings how to
#Divine feminine paintings series

The journey symbol in the shape of a swirl represents each individual’s unique life path.Īlthough Winder’s biggest hesitation in approaching the project was the question of how to portray perfection, she ultimately embraced the process by using her mother as a model. The “step down” shape means “home” or “our people” and the circle indicates perfection and continuation.

The shapes used in the halos deliberately tied together symbolism in Pueblo culture and in LDS temples. Winder wanted her version of Heavenly Mother to honor that background. Kwani Povi Winder’s mother is Santa Clara Puebloan and her indigenous family creates pottery in southeastern Idaho. Oil and metal leaf on linen panel, 16 x 14 inches Kwani Povi Winder (Santa Clara Puebloan, born 1989) The shapes rest on marbled paper, chosen to represent the organized matter of heaven and earth, created by God for the children of God. The smaller shape below symbolizes each individual person striving to echo the characteristics of their divine parents.

The circles made from squares originally derived from a quilting design, a nod to the early LDS women who taught and wrote about their Heavenly Mother while sewing and quilting together. As children of God, we can use our earthly experiences to find heaven. While on a macro level the shapes are circles, the circles are made of tiny squares, illustrating the connection our heavenly parents hold between heaven and earth, the spiritual and material worlds. The nineteen interlocking circles in the central figure of this piece symbolize ultimate perfection as the sum of seven and twelve, two numbers used in scripture to represent wholeness. Truth is reason, truth eternal Tells me I've a mother there. In the heavens are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare! I had learned to call thee Father through thy Spirit from on highīut until the key of knowledge was restored, I knew not why. Snow’s poem “O My Father,” which helped lay out a theology of a mother in heaven: Rather than thinking about a specific figure, she invites the viewer to consider “What is Heavenly Motherliness? What are her qualities and what is my relationship to her?” The title of DeLong’s work references LDS Relief Society President Eliza R. As DeLong writes, she finds beauty “in chaos and cosmos.” As she considered a work of art exploring the sacred feminine, DeLong felt her geometric artistic style was particularly well-suited to the task, as symbols allow more freedom to think about who or what God is. Lisa DeLong’s art probes the geometry of the sacred, tapping into an ancient tradition of melding mathematics with religious art. Pigments and leafing on paper, 36 x 24 inches Lisa DeLong (British-American, born 1974) Although the subjects are mortal, Hafen wanted viewers to see the image as a template for Heavenly Mother and her children and contemplate their relationship with her. The figures stand in a close embrace against a clear sky, an example of enduring parental love. Hafen used his wife, Thora, and his daughter, Delia, as models for the mother and child depicted. Smith offered to buy the first copy printed, the Church ultimately decided not to get into the business of publication, much to Hafen’s disappointment. Rich and Ellsworth tried to convince the First Presidency of the Church to purchase the booklets and distribute them to missionaries, but to no avail. Hafen wrote at the time, “I am impressed with the means that pictorial art might be of spreading the grand truths which are in that poem.” Rich, Ellsworth, and Hafen saw the booklets as a missionary opportunity, as the images could speak to people about the nature of God in a new and different way. The two men offered to finance the project, keeping only a small amount of the proceeds and returning the rest to Hafen.

#Divine feminine paintings series

Snow’s poem “O My Father” into a series of illustrations that could be made into a booklet and sold. Ellsworth, impressed with Hafen’s work, suggested he turn Eliza R. When he returned, he used his new skills on the Salt Lake temple and then struggled to make a living as an artist. In 1890, John Hafen was called a missionary to study art in France, where he learned from the masters of the time the use of color, how to apply light, and the broken brushstrokes of impressionism, all of which can be seen in his later work. John Hafen (American, born Switzerland, 1856-1910)Ĭollection of Brigham Young University Museum of Art