Miriam is best known for helping to deliver Moses at the Nile River and leading the Hebrew women in singing, dancing, and playing drums after crossing the Red Sea. Only one in three women is identified as a Prophetess. Later, she and her brother Aaron challenge the actions and authority of Moses. She understands leadership to embrace diverse voices, female and male. But the price of speaking out is severe; God punishes her, after which she never speaks, nor is she spoken to.
What Happened to Miriam?
Because she did not trust in God, Miriam was struck with leprosy. When Moses asked God to remove the disease from her body, God said she would be healed in seven days. Until then, she had to separate herself from the rest of the people and wait outside their encampment. But the price of speaking out is severe; God punishes her, after which she never speaks, nor is she spoken to.
Gold, Silver, and Purple
“The people grabbed their bread dough before it had risen, bundled their bread bowls in their cloaks, and threw them over their shoulders. The Israelites had already done what Moses had told them; they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold things and clothing. God saw that the Egyptians liked the people and readily gave them what they requested. Oh yes! They picked those Egyptians clean. Exodus 12:34…The Message
Portraits From Stories & Myths
I am creating a series of portraits for my next catalog. At first, the inspiration and subjects come from my study of the book of Exodus. I am completing Jordan Petersons’ series on Exodus as well as reliving my early adulthood. https://www.dailywire.com/show/exodus
Second, the movie “The Jesus Revolution”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07eXfF6Zw44 takes me back to growing up in Orange County, CA, which was the setting for the movie [although some of it was filmed in Alabama].
Finally, Lonnie Frisbee looked like a hippie, a Jesus Christ hippie. So were the looks of Greg Laurie and his wife. The Jesus Revolution felt authentic to me. However, I looked at it from the lens of my spiritual wounds from a priest a decade before. Trust in the God of religion was shattered. As a result, the wounds heal, always leaving a scar.
Some of those scars are depicted in my portraits as symbols and metaphors—a dominance of gold ties into the wealth that Mirriam possessed from the treasures of her Egyptian masters. Second, a confident smile. She is adorned with the finest clothing: reds, oranges, and the complementary color of purple.
Miriam: “wished-for child.”
Everything about this portrait is luxurious. I imagine Miriam with a stately beauty, royal in nature. Respected and expressive. An artist of dance and music. Merriam is the ancient name. In comparison, Miriam is the contemporary name—a name to create a beautiful attitude.
Miriam and other portraits from my digital gallery. The image is created using a series of Generative Pre-Trained Transformers. First, the image begins as a story, many from the book of Exodus. Second, photographs of my sculpture pieces are used as a layer to define the shape. Third, I use transformed layers of color. Finally, I use creative refinements to the algorithm of the story. https://larryjortega.com/gallery-collections-works-of-art/
