Than to Curse the Darkness (texture)

 18" x 24" acrylic paint on paper fabric

The piece is set in a field of darkness. There is a light in the background. Leaves, a symbol of life, are spreading out from the light in the darkness. As the leaves struggle against the darkness, they form their own texture. So too do our lives form a texture as we struggle.

The title is a reference to the line “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness” from by William L. Watkinson in a sermon called “The Invincible Strategy.” Struggling against the darkness by using what energy (light) we have in order to replicate may not be invincible, but it’s the best thing we have going.

The white leaf reminds us that although we experience the world as an individual, we nonetheless make up part of a bigger pattern.