How Many Angels? (Can dance on the head of a pin?)

"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" (alternatively "How many angels can stand on the point of a pin?"[1]) is a reductio ad absurdum challenge to medieval scholasticism in general, and its angelology in particular, as represented by figures such as Duns Scotus and Thomas Aquinas…….Wikipedia

The content of this painting came to me through the creative process I call intuitive expressivism (see next page). The painting began as pure improvising of paint and brush on canvas – Spiritual Doodling if you will. In this active contemplation process, images begin to appear in partial as emerging forms. My perceptual/cognitive perception driven by nonconscious intuition begins to perceive patterns that connect. Once the content begins to reveal itself, I strive to facilitate this randomness into a composition of meaning. In this piece I attempted to replicate a theological tension and gap between ideas using color, form, composition, and representation.

I have personally struggled with deeper interpretation of theological questions that were presented and debated in a historic context that I can only imagine. I must accept the cognitive, emotional, and behavior constraints of my personal narrative shaped by a web of shared cultural meanings. This painting explores the interpretive meaning of my question of this question.

In modern usage, the term has lost its theological context and is used as a metaphor for wasting time debating topics of no practical value, or questions whose answers hold no intellectual consequence, while more urgent concerns accumulate. Wiki

The Story of How Many Angels

The Story of Saturday Afternoon at The Fire