Double Cross 1

Another piece in the same series as Gott Mit Uns, looking at the dichotomy of both sides in a conflict calling on the same higher power to provide them with protection and a justification for their actions.
The format is similar to the Gott Mit Uns piece and if further satisfies my desire for things to look diagrammatical and almost didactic although I'm by no means tyring to preach through my work, far from it. The opposite in fact.
The lozenge pattern features heavily here again and like the German Kanone piece, there are also phrases printed with gum arabic that are only visible in certain light conditions. The cruciform shape of the biplanes in plan gives the piece its title. I wish there was a clever reason for there being two planes rather than one but its purely because two looked better than one and matched the format of the Gott Mit Uns piece.The title was a fortuitous one; part pun, part comment on the beliefs of two sides trying to kill each other.

Double Cross 1
Acrylic, gold leaf and gum arabic on canvas board

The verse fom Ephesians used here talks about battling the forces of evil in the heavenly realms which I thought quite suitable for the planes in the main image. The verse has been translated into German and then the words have had their insides jumbled leaving just the first and last letters in the correct place. The words are still decipherable as your brain quickly sorts them into the correct order. I added this twist as it forms a sort of code, albeit an easily solved one. The Encient German Gothic font used for the lettering gives it an Ecclesiastical look and again, there's the accidental stained glass feel to the piece. Looking at it now, from a distance as it were, the gold leaf and colours in the text create an illuminated manuscript-type effect. Again, purely accidental but maybe subliminal.