Image of the Week: Many Hands
© Durga Yael Bernhard
Many Hands began as an untitled illustration for a Christian publisher – an inspirational image to accompany a passage of scripture. I can't recall the exact words that were excerpted from this passage and printed in the center of the image. I could do some digging and find out, but I prefer to leave the center blank – or rather, to let you, my esteemed viewer, fill it in.
It's an image of community, for sure. Tolerance and diversity are very important to this publisher. My contact, a woman named Sarah, is deeply contemplative and devoted to her work. I was chosen as the illustrator because my images seem to speak to universal human experience. Plus, I'm madly in love with earth tones, and that translates well into a variety of skin colors. Think about it: just about any color that can be earth or rocks can also be a skin tone. All the people in the world could probably find the color of their skin in the Grand Canyon.
So what are all these colorful hands doing? They're expressing gratitude, of course. How do you express gratitude visually? That was my assignment. These hands are reaching toward the source of all they've been given – life, abundance, blessings, and light – reaching to receive, and to honor what is received, with gratitude.
I could not possibly fill in the center. The source of gratitude must be either blank, or filled with words. Not just any words, but words that point beyond words, beyond visual form. Perhaps these hands all belong to one living organism, like the spines of a colorful sea urchin. Or perhaps they're separate but connected, reaching for common ground. Surely no two viewers would envision the same thing at the center of this image, or find the same source of gratitude. What do you see? If you're so inclined, I invite you to share.
Many Hands is available as a greeting card ($3.50 including shipping) or poster ($10 including shipping). Visit my webstore to order the image of your choice.
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard