A Critique of Faith and the Devil by Lesley Dill
Lesley Dill’s artwork “Faith and The Devil” is a composition intertwining sculptures, murals and word imagery. This large scale masterpiece investigates the philosophical and existential conundrum of evil and underlying faith in the world. The subject or focal point of this artwork is a figure called Big Gal Faith. Big Gal Faith is an eight foot tall female figured covered in fabric and is ornamented in calligraphy wording and images. She is arranged in the center of the exhibit and is accompanied by a word covered mannequin representing Lucifer, as well as nine large linen murals that have interlocking words of poetry and journalism stories speaking on cruelty and violence, lust, forgiveness, reflection, and transcendence. The murals also contain pictures that give emphasis to the…show more content… This ambiance of pastel color, oil paint, gold leaf, silver leaf and mixed media on cotton panel made the art work interesting and I felt myself being pulled by a force demanding my full attention and stimulating my brain to want to learn more about the story in front of me. “We all see the same thing differently.
How we express that vision, that feeling, is so personal that few, if any, will be able to fully understand the 'true story' behind a given painting”. (David C. Benjamin)
My first impressions: My eyes gazed upon the sculpture of Big Gal Faith and I searched her face to see if she possessed any expressive qualities. I wanted to know if the figure was happy, sad, angry or composed. But her non descriptive facial features create a mystery. That mystery made me wonder if a face was not painted because, Big Gal Faith symbolized an expression of me, whoever is reading her story, or