An image of the ocean may seem like a strange way to end. The repetitive and precise all-over composition is indicative of most of Clemens most well-known works. But what strikes is the sense of in-between-ness that this work alludes to. The water is so uniform that the artist’s attention to such a mundane scene seems to imply some impending event. A portion of the work’s title, Between First and Second State, confirms this hunch.

What I want to rest in when considering Jesus entering the tomb is this knife’s edge moment in time — in between the first state of death and what is to come in the second part of this story. As Clemens’s work instills a sense of calm and awe amidst this in-between state, I encourage you to practice this contentedness in tension — before the Second State.