PROVO, Utah — Move beyond its large-scale battles and military movements and the Book of Mormon is essentially the personal record and testimonies of families and individuals.
Think of Enos in solitary prayer or perhaps Samuel the Lamanite receiving "glad tidings" from the angel of the Lord. Many of the book's most spiritual verses are gleaned from intimate moments happening amidst epic history.
A collection of 17 oil paintings by contemporary LDS artist Walter Rane offers an up-close perspective of perhaps the Book of Mormon's most inspiring chapters and individuals. The artwork is on display at BYU's Museum of Art through Sept. 15 in an exhibit titled "By the Hand of Mormon: Scenes from the Land of Promise."
"I wanted to make a personal connection with the viewer," Brother Rane said. "When I read the Book of Mormon it's those personal [images] that jump out at me."
The artist adds his paintings are figurative instead of literal and are created to evoke emotions from the viewer.
In his painting "Service of Your Fellow Beings," for example, Brother Rane chooses not to focus on King Benjamin counseling atop his tower. Instead, an anonymous family is featured prominently in the painting's foreground, sitting outside their tent and listening intently to their prophet's words on charity.
Another painting depicts the rejected prophet Ether hiding "in the cavity of a rock by day" (Ether 13:13). Brother Rane enlists his deep palette to capture a lonesome yet resolute Book of Mormon figure.
"I don't try to paint as if I were there with my camera capturing the moment," he said. "Rather, I try to depict what Moroni might have felt when he found his father dead. What did he feel at that moment, knowing that he was now alone in the world? That's what I paint."
Visitors to the Museum of Church History and Art or Conference Center in recent years have seen several of Brother Rane's LDS-themed paintings on display. A former freelance commercial artist, he was also commissioned by the Church to paint murals for the visitors center at Winter Quarters, Neb. The paintings on display in the "By the Hand of Mormon" exhibit at BYU can be seen also in a recently published book sharing the exhibit's title.
The BYU Museum of Art is located on North Campus Drive on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah.
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
