Agápē Commission

When I started adding wire to my encaustic collages, a friend asked me to make a piece for her. She bartered for massage services, which I couldn’t refuse!

So her Agape piece has been marinating in my head for a while. I started by writing good words on the cradled board and then layered encaustic paint representing water and greenery for her.

I received a partial anatomy book from a friend that had hands and hips, which were quite appropriate for this lady. I also gathered other snippets of words and images that would fit her profession and personality.

Agape (Ancient Greek ἀγάπη, agápē) is a Greco-Christian term referring to “love: the highest form of love, charity”, and “the love of God for man and of man for God”. Per wikipedia, “agape embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends, that serves regardless of circumstances. The noun form first occurs in the Septuagint, but the verb form goes as far back as Homer, translated literally as affection, as in ‘greet with affection’ and ‘show affection for the dead’.”

Since the words would be obscured, I also made a small stab-stitch journal for my friend to allow her to read the content of the collage.

It was fun to play in a different artistic arena for an afternoon.

Then I wrangled the word ‘agape’ out of wire.

I embedded the steel into the wax layer, which is harder than it seems. The metal heats up while the wood stays the same, and it is a challenge to get continuous pieces of wire to stay on the board as they cool.

After that, I forgot I had not yet added hardware to the back, so making sure I wouldn’t make the steel bounce off the front was interesting, but the challenge was mastered.

Last week I sent this piece on to its journey to a new state, where it will reside in Rebecca’s new office.

If you’re in Louisville, Kentucky and need a massage therapist, check out Rebecca!

She truly has healing hands.