This week, I fell in love with this piece by Matthew Hayashida titled “Heart of God”.
Before I saw the title of this piece, I’ll admit I was confused at what it was trying to portray. I did not realize at first that the intricate focal part of the drawing was heart. Before I saw it’s heart form, I thought it was a representation of life being poured into the man’s heart. The focal part has a multitude of things that are harmoniously mashed together: ice, fire, liquid, bubbles, vines, leaves, feathers, possibly snow. It reminded me of the harmony in life, that we all coexist in this environment made up of a vast majority of things, both beautiful and terrifying. I saw this in the delicacy of the feathers, in the sharpness of the icicles, in the intricacy of the vines.
But the focal part of this piece, I noticed is a heart made up of these attributes of life. The man below carries a plain and simple heart, he seems to be a common man. He is holding his heart open to the other heart, letting its contents flow in. This made me think of the Christian faith. Growing up, I had a Christian mother and a Catholic father. Not sure which to choose, I decided to attend a Christian youth group to explore the religion and in prayer and lessons i would always hear “open your heart to the Lord, open your heart up to God”. After seeing the title of this piece, “Heart of God”, my interpretation is that the man below was a common Christian/ religious man who had learned to open his heart to God so that he may live a beautiful life like Him. The larger focal heart is “larger than life” and holds so much beauty and love for life and it is open as well, sharing its love with others so that they may understand and live a life under Him.
It is a dynamic and simplistic piece all at one time. Choosing a medium of colored pencil and a small amount of ink makes this piece black and white yet brought to life with the highlights of the ink. Hayashida’s attention to detail makes this piece one of a kind. To learn more about him and his work, you can visit: http://www.matthewhayashida.com/
Life Towards Justice 