The Recording Angel
2005
Sculpture in Fabric
12.5" High

Sometime, during the late Renaissance of the 1600s, when the church felt its power beginning to slip , it was decided that there had to be somebody with a "list". A special angel who would record all of the good and bad things that everbody did, and this would determine who would be allowed through the Pearly Gates.

It was alway assumed, of course, that God would make the final decision, and the recording angel never played any kind of a judgmental role, but it was intended to remind the faithful that there was just no way to aviod the scrutiny of the divine. There would never be any questioin of who was naughty, and who was nice - someone was determinedly making sure that it was right there in black and white.

I don't know that anyone ever bothered to mention what that angel would be like - bearded old men come to mind. But I had the notion that I could come up with someone really scary; and, one day, I saw a little girl watching me, and it just clicked. Young gils can have intense judgemental capacities, and their laser eyes can be ruthless at seeing through adult facades, and social obfuscations. This recording angel sees everything, and there is no defense against her.

One can take some relief in knowing that this resolute figure is not really judging us, but, this being a complex world, she is putting a lot of thought into getting the record straight. Nor would it help to sneak a peek at any of her current volumes of the Damned and the Saved. She's writing in Etruscan.

Lisa Lichtenfels