God is That You?
by Tonia Martin
God is That You?, 2024. Watercolor and ink. 22 × 30 inches.
This painting is an attempt to capture life-giving waters pushed by a pendulum of time, aligning with the truth of God as keeper of time. It is the result of my study on the phrase “Let there be light.” As light arrows through darkness like morning comes through a louvered window, the swept waters, dividing and merging, infused with red specks, symbolize God's blood distributed in troughing and ascending waves. The red flowers speak of Christ as the rose of Sharon. The twelve red dots give a nod to the twelve tribes of Israel. The glowing pinnacle signifies the throne of glory. The five white circles refer to Ezekiel’s description of wheels turning in wheels.
In the midst of my process, I heard a story of a young man who walked alone in the woods and felt suddenly encircled with tremors of light. He yelled out, “God, is this you?” In the morning, he returned to the same place and felt the same Presence. "God, is that you?" he asked. Assured of God’s Presence, he began yelling over the canyon, "I love you God. I love you God. I love you God." That’s when I named it "God, Is that You?"
Tonia Martin holds an MFA in Writing from VCFA. The themes of abandonment, misidentification, PTSD, and dissociation subtly weave through her efforts to address the effects of The Fall in both her art and writing. Martin’s work has appeared in various publications, including Makoto Fujimura's Cultural Care Newsletter; ARTS: The Arts in Religious and Theological Studies; Metonym; The Chrysalis Reader; and Ruminate magazine. She has also written and illustrated five prose-poem gift books for adults, including About Face, Intents & Purposes, Rest: An Invitation to Freedom, The String Theory Beginning with Me, and Having Tried Everything, all available on Amazon.