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Keep Me Safe

"Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it." 

-St. John of the Cross

cardboard, aluminum foil, paper, acrylic paint, texture paste, artificial flowers/foliage, thread, eye hook, & wire
12 x 7.25 x 3.5 in
2019
not for sale

Probably​ one of the most difficult aspects of the human person to preserve is one's heart. The heart is the nucleus from which all human behaviors, desires, and speech are derived. Yet the heart is also most attacked by the world and the Enemy, and once it begins to lose its purity and goodness, the products of the heart can have dangerous consequences for both others and one's own inner life. As such, despite all that we may face and experience in this world, we ought to preserve and care for our hearts as much as possible, for nothing good can flourish from a hopeless, decayed source.

This sculpture attempts to communicate the heart's plea to be kept safe and impenetrable from the darkness of the world. The outside of the heart is coated with a blackened, almost charred metallic surface- this illustrates the long-term effects caused by worldly disturbances and influences, which attempt to discourage and mar the inner goodness and peace of the heart. Even more, the flowers, leaves, and butterflies around the heart have turned black, for it is extremely difficult to not have even a single part of one's heart undisturbed by the world. Yet this opened heart exposes a white inner core, symbolizing that goodness and purity have still been preserved, and the dove hanging in the center prominently displays the continued presence of peace. Furthermore, there is a blackened olive branch entering the superior vena cava, where, anatomically, blood enters the heart; likewise, the darkness of the world attempts to seep into the heart and fill it with its own kind of "blood." However, emerging from the aorta, where blood leaves the heart, is a golden lily, which contrastingly illustrates that the goodness and purity of one's heart can, in fact, flow out to, and influence, the outside world.

Aveen Toma

Fine Art

Sacred Art

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