Thus Sayeth the Lord

    David overcame his fear and killed Goliath. In the same way, I can overcome my writers block and write this artist statement, at least that’s what I’ve been taught. I’ve grown up hearing so many allegorical re-telling’s of the bible that I’ve lost track of fact and fiction. Even in the metaphors and allegories, there was always an element of “read this not that.” In recent years I’ve become more and more interested in these passages that we choose to look away from; the victims in stories we have dehumanized. The wider Christian tradition sees these as the word of God breathed into the pages, through which God speaks to our present moment. If so, how do we understand God’s will in the darkest parts of scripture?

    To depict these stories in a historical context does little to convince the viewer of the dire problem they present because the Christian tradition that I myself belong to has been numbed to biblical bloodshed. Therefore, I have chosen to recreate these scenes with household objects we all recognize such as TVs, lamps, Eggplants, and bedsheets. Where we often pick and choose which stories to read in Sunday school, I am also picking and choosing which images to re-create. I have begun my own selective reading of scripture, starting with the strangest and, frankly, most inhumane verses, all of which have been attributed to God.

    Paired with each photo is a guided meditation in the Lectio Divina tradition. Lectio Divina is an ancient prayer practice that takes the participant through a prayerful reading of a particular passage. When paired with these photos it then creates an uncomfortable tension between a sincere invitation to meditate on scripture and these awkwardly constructed violent scenes. I ask the viewer to sit with the stories that play through their headphones in a new and unfamiliar way. We would never lead a congregation through a meditation on the defilement of men and women, but that’s exactly what I ask the observer to participate in. Within the thick layers of irony is a level of sincerity where I am asking the viewer to begin their own meditation on the text, whether it be in prayer or discourse.

To fully experience this work, listen to the guided meditations paired with each photo.