The exercise for this painting was to adapt a famous work into a grid like painting similar to Mondrian in appearance. I chose a Bosch painting "Christ Crowned in Thorns". Working in such an abstract manner gets me thinking about very abstract ideas. My Christ figure was originally all white, in consistence with Christ being "homoosia" - meaning that Christ and God are of the same substance. Not wanting to rock the boat that was established at the Council of Nicaea in 325CE.
But after a fierce theological debate with my professor, I finally admitted that Christ was "homoiosia" - meaning of like substance, but not the same as God. block to half white and half putty colored , showing that Christ is part divine and part man, falling in line with Arian heretics and satisfying the exercise requirements for my painting course.
In today's world the difference between homoosia and homoiosia might seem arbitrary as such a subtle ecclesiastical nuance. But in the forth century it was quite a hot issue, even among the common person on the street. There were several riots in Alexandria over it.
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