A Matter of Interpretation considers how language, translation, belief, and point of view shape meaning through the shared symbol of the sword. Painted with fast, layered color and forms, the surface reveals symbols, signs, and binary code. What can be understood depends partly on the languages the viewer can read and on whether they change position to discover the translations that continue onto the side of the work, information not available from the front.
What one verse appears to say, or what is done in its name, should not be assumed to be the same across the three sacred texts. Their attitudes toward the sword differ, from its rejection as a means of salvation, to its invocation, to permission to fight when wronged. A three-dimensional sword is anchored within the work, gradually merging into the painted surface. Like the texts themselves, the sword remains a shared symbol whose meaning depends on the viewer’s personal associations and interpretation.
The verses are:
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
New Testament, Matthew 10:34
أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَـٰتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا۟ ۚ وَإِنَّٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ
Qur'an, Al Hajj 22:39
Translation from Arabic: “Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory.”
Al Hajj 22:39
וְיֵדְעוּ כָּל־הַקָּהָל הַזֶּה כִּי לֹא בְחֶרֶב וּבַחֲנִית יְהוֹשִׁיעַ יְהוָה כִּי לַיהוָה הַמִּלְחָמָה וְנָתַן אֶתְכֶם בְּיָדֵנוּ׃
Hebrew Bible, 1 Samuel 17:47
Translation from Hebrew:
“And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.”
Hebrew Bible, 1 Samuel 17:47
2026, Mixed media on stacked canvases and found objects
24 x 61 x 5 inches
