During my morning Bible reading one day I read Proverbs chapter four and when I came to verse twenty-three I read these words, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." (NIV). Later that same day I made an initial sketch which included the barbed wire heart and blocks of individual text suggesting icons to possibly include.
Before diving into the creative process for this work here are verses eighteen through twenty-seven to provide a larger context (emphases to verse twenty-three added).
The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the[3] paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
(Journal sketch of initial idea for Above All Else.)
When I wrote "think Magritte" in my initial sketching out of ideas I was thinking about the Belgian surrealist painter Rene Magritte paintings such as The Six Elements , On The Threshold of Liberty, and Memory of a Voyage. Reflecting on Proverbs 4:23 and works such as these by Magritte I thought of the elements one encounters in contemporary society which harden one's, of how challenging it can be to keep love, joy, and light in one's heart amidst the bombardment of media, surveillance capitalism, and the alarm bells of daily crisis.
How does one guard one's heart above all else?
Detail of Above All Else with Proverbs 4:23 on the fountain base.