The Curious Foundering of the Goodship Jeroboam
Originally intended as commentary on the early Mormon church, this piece can be interpretted more broadly as a critique of the time-honoured tradition of the iniquitous leading the blind via religious dogma. You may notice that the men fleeing the sinking ship are rowing away from the shore, as indicated by the lighthouse visible on the horizon. Moreover, the white caps of the turbulent sea trace out the form of the cloaked figure of Death reaching out for the men in the lifeboat, while they ignore the plight of the drowning man to the left. One man can be seen looking back over his shoulder at the viewer, as though having doubts as to the directions being dolled out by the reverend from his tome. This scene is intended to be both ominous and tumultuous.
This was a mixed-media endeavour, painted in acrylic paint, watercolour, and ink on canvas board. While I still possess this particular painting, it has been perniciously difficult to photograph, not only because of its overall darkness but also because of the use of irridescent paints in its composition. Lighting and glare have been persistent challenges to capturing this painting adequately. For this reason, the above image is a composite of two photos, and while the compositing has created a slight jitter effect, I’m quite happy with the result, as no single photo has ever captured all the colours nearly so well. Below are the source photographs.
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