I Am and I Am begins with an image that appears familiar: a bearded figure beneath a crown of thorns, immediately evoking Christ.

Look longer and the face begins to change.

Another face emerges within the first. One appears to look upward while another observes from a different orientation. Separate yet inseparable, the two figures occupy the same form.

The title draws upon the ancient declaration of divine existence: “I Am.” Here, the declaration is doubled.

I Am and I Am.

The duality suggests not two gods, but opposing expressions contained within a greater whole: light and darkness, mercy and judgment, creation and destruction, suffering and salvation, humanity and divinity.

Much like the complementary forces of yin and yang, the painting questions whether apparent opposites must actually contradict one another. Perhaps what we perceive as opposing forces are different expressions of something larger than either alone.

The crown of thorns places that paradox within Christ himself: human and divine, condemned and exalted, wounded and eternal.

Look once and there is one face.

Look again and there are two.

Perhaps both were there all along.

Fine art reproduction of an original work by Michael J. Thomas for Khaos Art Studios.