Revelation 21

Revelation 21 is a triptych consisting of Italian pima cotton organdy, cotton, tulle, gold lamé, acrylic paint, and gold leaf. Three 30″ x 10″ canvasses combine to make a 30″ x 30″ work in reflection of Revelation 21:16 -- "The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide."

The city skyline is layers of organdy (often used in wedding gowns) built up as a city and then monoprinted with acrylic paint, connecting to verse 2: "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband."

The bottom portion of each section was made by painting cotton fabric – cutting up the fabric into small rectangles of varying sizes and reassembling, overlapping the rectangles slightly. That new “fabric” was then stitched over the top in interlocking rectangles. Sheer tulle was stitched over the top in reflection of verses 19-20: "The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst."

Each section of the triptych was monoprinted: the red “splotches” symbolizing the blood of the Lamb, the portions of text as well as the gold lamé Alpha & Omega, and Chi Rho. This stems from verse 6: "He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End."

The gold leaf cross illuminates the city from verse 23: "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp."

The piece now resides in the east entrance of the chapel at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota.