ICON on Job 23:1-17, by Kate Mumey

 

Kate Mumey created this icon as part of her final project in my Spring Old Testament Interpretation course. Here is an excerpt of her description of Job: "This is not an icon of a man who feels himself embraced by the loving arms of a just and true God. This icon is fear, anger, and the most feverish desperation. In Job’s own words, he is in search, and the language [of finding God], reverential though it is, implies the absence of God, and he has searched for this elusive and unresponsive God. There is panicked energy in the arms of Job. You can almost see it shooting out of his fingertips in desperation for confrontation and understanding from his God."