[LINEAGE FLAME] hoodie

I made this image at a time when I was thinking about a lot of questions that relate to religion as a tradition that is passed down through time: who has spiritual authority? who passes on the teachings and the texts? to whom do we turn for spiritual council? what is spiritual authority, and who has it? As I was thinking about these things, alone in the mountains (actually, in Colorado), I did a series of drawings with these small figures. I think of them as bishops or monks, little figures that represent someone with spiritual authority that leads, follows, and keeps the flame burning. I started thinking of the light and warmth of a spiritual tradition as something these people keep and pass on, something they're transformed by and something they use as a transforming power. In a sense, anyone that takes part in a spiritual tradition takes part in the process, even if they're just a "normal" on the ground person. I thought this arrangement where they're all circled around this candle