The Thunder
This is my reaction to the gnostic scripture “Thunder: Perfect Mind.” The text of that writing is a riddle concerning a mysterious female personage. She would seemingly have a duel nature, as descriptions of her tend to conflict:"I am the honored and the scorned one, I am the whore and the holy one, I am the wife and the virgin, I am the mother and the daughter..."
Because of her conflicting nature I have made this figure two conjoined females. Both of these are figures that I’ve used repeatedly. The masked figure is essentially the same as in “Conversion.” For information on her read my comments on that painting. Here she is masked, the whore, in lingerie. Her companion is derived from a figure in a dream of mine. She had her hair wrapped around her head, and possessed controversial knowledge of hidden things. In my paintings she has become the figure of Sophia, or the Wisdom of God.
My symbolism doesn’t necessarily associate directly with the scripture. Once I arrived at the conjoined figure I made them roughly identical to two important concepts in gnosticism, Zoe and Sophia, or Life and Wisdom, which are also the two trees in Eden. The dove and the olive branch are references to Life. References to Wisdom are the snake and the eyeball fruit, which is also shown in “Adam and Eve.” Both figures grasp the cross of redemption and have overcome death (the skull) and the world (the globe
(Paintings that feature the Mary Magdalene character are "Conversion," "the Thunder," "Crucifixion," and "Christ and the Adulterous Woman.")
(Paintings that feature the Sophia character are "the Thunder," "In the Beginning," "O Fortuna," and "Crucifixion.")