Crossroads

(16" x 20") - Mixed Media: Acrylic Paint, Paper Stock, Pastels and Charcoal.

C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors and philosophers of all time.  I discovered several of his classic apologetic works after I graduated from college and, ironically, started reading books with a manic fever.  It wasn't until later that I read his works of fiction and fantasy with great delight.

One of his most controversial books composed from a series of lectures he gave in early 1943 is titled The Abolition of Man.  In it, Lewis highlights the moral law commonly found embedded in all civilizations throughout history.  Foundational bedrock laws that inform but transcend religious models of moral behavior.

The book is controversial for claiming that if western civilization elects to deny the reality and authority of universal moral law, it will inevitably descend into chaos and self destruction.

My old paperback copy of it took on some weather and was mostly ruined.  I salvaged the cover and a few undamaged pages to create this collage.  The pages are torn and jagged, suggesting someone either tried to destroy the book out of protest over its central argument, or they tried to save what tatters were left to preserve Lewis's point for future generations.  Either way, the composition portrays Lewis's thoughts at a crossroads. 

Deep colors are layered and veiled to reinforce the books substantial importance and uncertainty.