The Work
Artist Statement
This collection of 90 paintings is a collaboration between many members of Zion Lutheran Church ranging in age from 11 to 88 years old. Each work of art features an attribute of God, they chose, that is depicted abstractly.
As humans, are minds are finite, so we are incapable of fully understanding how great our God truly is. However, we can understand some characteristics and attributes of God. Each painting represents an attribute of God, and are hung together to give us a bigger picture of how God is not just one attribute but many, and cannot be contained on just one canvas. They are sewn together to represent the interconnectedness that members of Christ have within in the church, and to serve as a reminder that, in Christ, the church is one body working together.
The collection of paintings came out of a three-part lecture series given through November to January. This lecture series centered around images of Christ and artist’s interpretations as well as viewer’s interpretations. The goal was to allow the congregation to grow in their faith by gaining a deeper understanding of how they view Christ and what they believe is an accurate depiction of Him at this point in their life.
Understanding the Process
How it was created:
​This collection of paintings were painted over the course of 4 weeks by different groups within the church ranging from Adult Faith formation to beginning Confirmation Students. Each participant painted on the canvas and left it to go to the secondary process. This secondary process took 4 weeks. During this part it was later brought to the studio to be scanned, mapped and then sewn together by hand.
​
The following are excerpts from the third part of the lecture series:
"​Before starting, I would share about that God is not relative in terms of changing throughout history. He is who he is, and will be the same forevermore. With that being said, how we relate to him is different depending on where we are in our lives. If we are going through times of financial struggles we may need Christ to be more of a provider. If we are going through times of pain, we may need Christ to be our comforter. Understanding that God is all of these traits is key. We don’t want to put God in a box by saying that He is just one of these traits. We must understand that it is not God that is relative, but it’s our relation to him at that point in time that we are connecting and seeing."
"How can we name God? Should we name God? I believe that it is not wrong to name the attributes of God as long as we acknowledge that He is greater than any of our understanding and more than just the attributes we may recognize or name today."
"I want you to discover your personal connections between your needs and who Christ is right now in your life. And Overall, walk away with a greater understanding about how great God is and how He is interacting in our lives in different ways."
