Revelation: Left Behind
Benjamin Cruz
Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas
I first read the series Left Behind Kids by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim Lahaye when I was in fifth grade. The story is set place in the suburbs of Chicago during the rapture and seven years of tribulation. Four teenagers are left on Earth without their parents and have to care for themselves while the final days of Earth approach. The story is not censored, and these kids experience immense tragedy and the worst of humanity. It is because of their independent struggle on Earth that they become stronger in their faith in preparation for God’s judgment. When I first read the book I enjoyed reading it simply because it was simply an interesting story and was readily available in such a Christian environment. However, I was never able to finish it because my school did not have the rest of the forty books. I am now listening to an audiobook series narrated by Ray Mossholder, and the books now have become something much more to me. I greet the books with familiarity as I know all the characters and their backstories, but what I have experienced between fifth grade and now has really changed my perspective. As I am now the age of the oldest character I really feel the weight of what these kids are experiencing and fear for myself. I know how limited our lives on Earth really are, and for me the possibility of the end of Earth is very real, and in close proximity.
Revelations: Left Behind is a series of paintings in which I reflect on the proposed end, my own mortality, and my biggest fears. The goal of each painting is to filter Biblical prophecy, and edit it to both reveal and conceal my own vulnerability. Those who are raptured leave everything physical behind them including their clothes. In the book the kids struggle and avoid the last remnants of their family and parents scattered throughout their houses, the clothes that their parents wore at the time of the disappearances. In Revelation 3:18, it is stated, “ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Gold represents faith, which is tried by affliction in this life, and white signifies purity and righteousness as a result of successfully overcoming challenges against one’s faith. I consistently use articles of white clothing suspended in each piece as a reminder of those who have been cleansed and were/will be raptured. To live after God raptured his church, one would see clothing scattered everywhere where a believer once stood. I choose to leave the clothing hung and suspended to create a choice and submissiveness. These paintings are personal points of meditation where I am allowed to contemplate the inevitable, and also determine what choices I need to make.
Title of the paintings left to right:
Covenant: The First Sign
Mark of the Beast
Revival of Sacrifice
Abomination of Desolation
The Second Coming of Christ
Millennium: Reunion
A New Earth
Covenant: The First Sign
Mark of the Beast
Revival of Sacrifice
Abomination of Desolation
The Second Coming of Christ
Millenium: Reunion
A New Earth
Revelation 21:4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
