Chapel Art Installation

Green is displayed during the seasons following Epiphany and Pentecost, seasons of growth.

Black is displayed during Advent and Lent, seasons of contemplation and repentance.

Gold is displayed during Easter and Christmas, seasons of celebration. 

The Gospel of Matthew is painted in red with a red gold leaf band running down the center. This Gospel has a theme of Kingdom: the Kingdom of God is here and now. Jesus keeps giving us examples of what the Kingdom is like, and the people that Matthew highlights are beautiful, human, and forever changed. Kingdom people aren’t perfect, but they are given such love that forever changes them. From the very beginning, there is this long Jewish line which includes four women. During the visit of the Magi, there comes great sorrow in Bethlehem as babies were slaughtered by a jealous and evil King. I chose to use the colorings of red to depict these births that are named and unnamed through the women and through the obedience of Mary. I also thought the color lent itself to the violence happening at the time of Jesus’ young life. Later in the book, we see John the Baptist, languishing in a dark prison, sending disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the One?” We also come upon a moment in the Bible where “beautiful” is used by Jesus when Mary anoints Him at Bethany. Nearing the end of His life, we see Him cry, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” He is not a detached King with a detached Kingdom. This beautiful Kingdom requires sacrifice. The clear, long line is like a clear flame to me. All the brokenness and pain of the world could not stop Jesus from coming and making His Kingdom. He comes right down into it, like a living seed that dies and grows from the blood and sacrifice of so much Love.

The Gospel of Mark is painted in browns and greens with a band of moon gold running down the center. Moon gold is gold mixed with palladium (which gives it a slightly brown tone), a material that helps catalytic converters remove toxins and make the air cleaner. I thought that palladium was a beautiful symbol of Jesus.

The book of Mark is all action and dirt. From the very first chapter, Jesus is encountering Satan, casting out demons, and entering into the unclean world to be with us. It speaks of demonic activity more than any other Gospel. There is a theme of unclean spirits and a suffering servant. I thought of another time in the Bible when the people of God were wandering in a dusty desert, roaming where only evil spirits would roam. I wanted the patina to look like dust and wanderings. For me, one of the greatest passages is Mark 9, where Jesus casts out the demon from a son who is suffering with epilepsy. His father speaks in his vulnerability and doubt, “if you can heal him…”, and Jesus sees right into his splintered heart and says, “If?” The father cries out a prayer for all the church: “I believe! Help my unbelief!” Later in Mark, we find Jesus on the cross echoing the same words that Matthew recorded, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” For a God who has come all the way into the very muck and mire of this life (seen and unseen), He knows exactly what we are going through. He has put His feet, hands, and body in our very place so that we could have a healed and healthy world. 

The Gospel of Luke is painted in blues and reds with a 12k white gold leaf running down the middle. Luke draws out all the overlooked and unseen people: Mary, shepherds, poor, women, and Gentiles. I chose to use 12k gold as it is the “cheapest” but most luminous of all the golds (just like the overlooked people).

The blue and white colors reflect the story of the encounters with angels all through Jesus’ birth story in Luke - from Elizabeth, Zachariah, Mary, and Joseph to the humble shepherds in an unknown field. I felt that the coloring led one to think of the night sky cut through by the glory (light reflected off the white gold) of the angels.

The encounters in the Gospel of Luke are also very personal. Luke includes Jesus’ lineage at His baptism, and instead of it just being a Jewish line, it traces all the way back to Adam. Jesus is for ALL people, for all time. Luke shows us there are no boundaries that can keep us from Jesus.
 
Near to His death, Jesus keeps praying to His Father, asking forgiveness for those who are killing Him. He gives over His Spirit to the Father. In between these intimate prayers, Jesus answers a thief on the cross that he will be with Him in paradise. He never stops loving, forgiving, talking to His heavenly Father, and having compassion.  

The Gospel of John is painted in shades of red with an 18k gold band running down the middle and also leafed along the top of the panel. 18k gold is the brightest of the golds (lemon gold). I used this to share the theme of light and darkness in John.

I wanted to depict and echo the Genesis moment of “Let there be light” as John’s Gospel begins - this great Word made flesh that came to dwell with us. The Light of the World has come! In this piece, there was so much texture caused by the patina. It sits like a rocky, war-torn landscape as light breaks through. Jesus comes shrouded in clouds (like the pillar of cloud) and mystery and then as a clear light piercing the darkest places.

There is such a juxtaposition of the blindness of the world (living in darkness) to the great light that beams throughout this Gospel. Jesus is the Good Shepherd going into the darkness to find the sheep. His light illuminates people - John the Baptist, Mary, the Woman at the Well, the Man Born Blind and others - who are changed by Jesus and, in turn, share such faith in and love for Him and with us all, throughout time. He surprises us with His resurrection, as Mary hears her name through her tears. He comes to make a fire for Peter and invites Thomas to touch His hands and side.

Near the end of His life, Jesus speaks three, poignant words, “I am thirsty.” These were the words that Mother Teresa of Calcutta had over her doorway as she ministered to the untouchables of India’s slums. John’s Gospel reminds us to look for the thirsty among us: the blind, the hurting, and those living in great darkness. There, we will find Jesus.