'What Sayest Thou?'
David Marshall Habben II
- Medium
United States
ca. 2019
Ink and acrylic on paper
Habben’s depiction of the woman caught in adultery captures the tumultuousness and violence of the story. The accusers rise up as a storm, pointing disjointed fingers, that forms ultimately a collective dark cloud of pattern and chaos, where strong arms grip stones ready and aimed. The woman’s eyes are cast down in shame, and she grips the hand of Jesus, who joins her lowliness.
Said Habben, “With just a few brief words, He encapsulates the concept of grace: from Him, through Him, and like Him. ‘Go, and sin no more.’ No rebuke or lecture. No self-aggrandizement. Just a simple call.”