Zoe

From In-fidelity to Ridiculous Decency

 

Lust. Sex. Pornography.  Intimacy. Purity. Loving kindness. We are quite certain we have your full attention. The colors are bold and captivating because lust and its ensuing virtue of purity is as equally antithetical to contemporary culture. Fuscia pink is the color of passion. The bold backdrop provides the framing for passion’s paradox. What we think will lead us to the ultimate pleasure is simply an illusion of the real thing. Cheap imitations of God-created sex in the context of a sanctified relationship always hurt and leave us dripping with the pain of a broken heart, soul, body and genitalia. One discovers all too often that lust and unblessed sexual exploitations are simply a moment, an event, a fabrication of what is so desired: unconditional love between two people with God as the great lover holding the two in rapturous fulfillment. Thus, the antidote for lust is purity, symbolized by a white rose. The most elegant of images. Vasilieff captures our true pleasure for connection in the context of ridiculous decency.

From Excess to Extravagantly Enough

 

We focus this week on the move from gluttony to enough. Gluttony is symbolized by the orange backdrop with a rope that knots us and ties us to our chairs in order to consume more food and drink, and devour all that is in our path. It is slow isolation and creates space between the glutton and their community. It is a break from the enough of the Eucharistic table of the body and blood of Christ to the gulping, guzzling, and swallowing of the one who has made their appetites their god. Hold this in juxtaposition with the enough of simplicity by way of temperance and justice. Temperance is portrayed using the jewel color of emerald green. It symbolizes the grandeur of areté in a life that is lived for the pleasure of God in self-control, moderation, and containment. It is the moderate life. A life that discovers the prudence of pleasure in self-control. This constancy is portrayed by the scarlet zinnia that jumps off the page in 3D delight.

From I, ME, and Mine to Endearing Call

 

This piece details the move from I, ME, and MINE (pride) to Enduring Call. It is the age old vexation of a life lived for self in vainglory and contrarily the call to live for the glory of God alone. In this rendition Vasilieff highlights the deadly sin of superbia by locating duct tape on a deep purple backdrop. The color purple is the color of royalty, indicating the way in which all those in love with their own gaze prefer to be treated, like a king and a queen. The one who is caught up in the vice of vainglory seeks attention, applause, and approval, the desire is to be seen with the right people, in the right place at the right time. The duct tape symbolizes the desire for those who are subjected to the vainglorious one to simply cease and be quiet, as if to mute the mouth and quiet the soul of the one who is ensnared by superbia. The duct tape also symbolizes the spiritual discipline needed to combat the vice and make the slow move to virtue. That discipline is silence, solitude, and cessation from the voices that command the attention of the vain person to live a life of and for themselves to the exclusion of others and, most importantly, God. When one is silent, one is unfettered to consider what a life lived for the glory of God might entail. It is to inhabit the planet living for the audience of One. This theme is depicted by the majestic white lily, symbolic of resurrection to new life. A life of enduring and endearing call. A life that truly desires to listen to one voice and one voice alone—God’s. The lily is embedded on a light green backdrop, the color of nature, the place that embeds us in the call of God to live uniquely and peculiarly sola Dei gloria!