I chose mirrors to create Christian art after being inspired by the description of Jesus in John 9:5.  “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” If Jesus is the light, then I wanted to show him as a figure of light within all my pieces. Additionally, I think mirrors are a beautiful way to represent the idea that the Holy Spirit is God’s spirit moving within us. Mirrors also allow the viewer to see him or herself within the artwork.

The three mixed media pieces shown here are based on different scriptures, as their titles indicate.  My goal was to make artwork oriented and anchored by the Gospel, which is why each piece includes both scripture and a representation of Jesus through the play of mirrors and light.

In general, I enjoy using collage and found or donated materials that are inherently imbued with Christian symbolism. Many of the materials used were found, donated, or randomly acquired during the process of creating the works. I spent more time in prayer over the mediums and materials than the time it took to make the pieces. Every material used is special to me because in my process, I often let the material or medium choose the direction of the image, depending on how it reacts with the rest of the piece. 

I love using different materials because substances with tactile properties can breathe life into art in a way not possible in two dimensional paintings.

While working on Hands, I became very open, for the first time, to allowing other people to participate in my artistic process. The hands of exactly 179 people were photographed for the piece. No person was used twice, and every person in the piece understood that I was making an artwork about worship and seeking God. Every person seemed to have something to say whether it be a testimony, a prayer request, or just an interest in being involved in the project.

I would like to thank Glass Inc. on Glenn Iris Drive and Lloyds Glass in Covington for their generous donations of materials, which enabled me to complete these projects. I would also like to thank the 179 volunteers involved in the "hands project" for putting up with me walking up to you randomly and kindly requesting to take a picture of your hand while you were on the street, or at church, or at the hospital, or being my family, or eating lunch, or on the Emory quad, or during class, or while you were cleaning out trash cans, or working at Mammies' and Burger King, or washing car windows, or painting houses, or being my doctor, or stalking me on Facebook, or cleaning the art studio, or working at the library, or living at the monastery, or working at the Emory mailroom, or teaching a class, or being my friend, or hanging out at Bread Coffee House, or sleeping, or stationed in Afghanistan, or exterminating bugs from my apartment, or working at Hobby Lobby and Home Depot, or working at the Waffle House, or working at Atlanta Clay, or inviting me to take graduation pictures in your backyard... Thank you so much for your patience and kindness. 
Also, a very special thanks to two awesome Bible Study groups that I stumbled into: Asian Christian Fellowship and Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Yall were so inviting and encouraging. Even though I was not able to spend much time with yall, the worship yall inspired on campus was amazing. And I believe I can say this truthfully ... yall were definitely not expecting me, but you welcomed me regardless ^_^ 


The three pieces featured were: 

Hands of Faith (2 Chronicles 7:14), Mixed media assemblage
True Love (John 1:5 and Matthew 27:42-44), Mixed media assemblage
The Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:38-39), Mixed media assemblage