I Went Up Into The Mountain

“And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: Arise, and get thee into the mountain. And it came to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain, and cried unto the Lord.” 1 Nephi 17:7

The artist statement for this group of work is as follows:

"The Lord showed unto me great things." This is my second series of Book of Mormon paintings, each painted while looking through a stone--meditating on and coming to terms with Joseph Smith's revelatory process. Painting through a stone forced upon these compositions an abstraction, removing the text from most geographic or cultural specifics. I chose 1 Nephi 17-18 for this series because it has been the most formative Book of Mormon passage in my own development. In these verses, Nephi returns to the mount oft in search of divine instruction. I have similarly turned to God in an effort to craft my own curious workmanship. And I have wrestled with the implications of attaining a promised land.

Copyright retained by J. Kirk Richards. Contact the artist to license this image for publication.