Roger Wagner

Roger Wagner. b.1957

The Harvest Is the End of the World and the Reapers Are the Angels, 1984.

Oil on canvas.

23 x 32 inches.

Private collection.

These drawings of angels were made into woodcuts and included in Wagner`s first book of poems, entitled Fire Sonnets, published by the Besalel Press in 1984

He depicts a world transfigured by the presence of God and his angels:

And in that summer evening's fading light

I saw his angels gather in the wheat:

Like beaten gold their beauty smote the air

And tongues of flame were streaming in their hair

He has also produced illustrations for a new translation for the Second Book of the Psalms. Below is the painting for Psalm 46.

Roger Wagner. b.1957

Psalm 46
There is a River

Oil on panel

19 x 15cm

Private collection

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Roger Wagner`s website is here.

See also the exhibition of his work in Oxford.