A 60-Second Year

So now the year of “Daily Crosses” is complete.  Looking back on all the crosses that I found—in nature, on buildings, and in so many mundane places—I have this new sense of Christ being everywhere.  It’s a great feeling.

 

I also love how this project engaged my friends and acquaintances from all over the world who commented on my daily Facebook postings and even contributed photos themselves.  If you’re one of those people, thanks for participating.

 

Here is a video that shows all 366 crosses in one minute.  I hope you enjoy it.  I am also making a book for those of you who want to look at all the photographs at a more leisurely pace.  Let me know if you’d like a copy!

The Flavor of Salt

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men". Matthew 5:13

A scripture can inspire an artist in quite unusual ways. In this video you can see how this verse influenced me:

And here is what salt miners in Poland created: Please open the link below and take a look at the Wieliczka salt mine and the art made by salt miners. I love that even the chandeliers are made from rock salt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieliczka_Salt_Mine

The Chrysalis and the Butterfly

On April 16, we held an art exhibit entitled “Sinners and Saints” at Red Bank Community Church. We hold two exhibits a year, inviting artists from around the country to participate.

We had lots of great pieces for the show. Canadian Nobel Peace Price nominee Sharon Sargent sent us some of her remarkable courtroom sketches, accompanied by descriptions of each case. The sketches were hung on a clothesline with clothespins to create a piece she called “Dirty Laundry.” The depiction of murderers and rapists on trial fit well with our theme.

The exhibit started off with a great live “light painting” performance by Eva Flatscher and her accompanist Mavis Pan. Brooke Campbell also came down from NYC to favor us with her beautiful singing.

Local artist Sheilagh Casey contributed a really fun piece she called “Christian Training Kit.“ It consisted of a box with a mirror and a stone inside. It invited viewers to look at themselves and then cast the stone if they found themselves to be without sin.

One of the pieces I did was called “A Gallery of Saints.” It was a series of photographs that I took of members of our congregation and turned them into faux icons by adding a halo of gold leaf. In keeping with traditional portraits of saints, each person was photographed with some symbolic object to represent their identity: a mop, a plate of cookies, a bow and arrow, an apple, a Bible, etc. People were a bit surprised to see themselves depicted as saints—because we know we are far from it. Yet we also know that we are set apart for sanctification because of what Jesus has done, is doing and will do on our behalf.

In the middle of the room, I put up an installation called “Chrysalis.” It was essentially two white mosquito nets sewn together, hanging from the ceiling, forming a triangle with an opening on one side. Viewers were invited to enter it and invite God to change them. Below you can find a brief video of the installation.

Near the end of the exhibit, I noticed a little miracle. Even though there were no open windows in our space—and we are on the second floor of a commercial building with only one regular-sized door downstairs—a little white butterfly somehow managed to land on “Chrysalis.” It was oddly affirming.

IAM hangover.

Every year when I come back from the IAM (International Arts Movement) Encounter, my head can hardly contain any more input—and my heart is giddy from two-and-a-half-days of intensive stimulation. The IAM Encounter is not just a meeting of artists. Something happens there that is bigger than just the sum of its parts. There is a spiritual synergy—what some might call “ubuntu”—a chain reaction of sharing that taps into our collective potential.

Or, as philosopher of art Adrienne Chaplin called it during her talk, a “lift experience.”

The culture at the Encounter is one of inclusion and encouragement. Visual artists, writers, philanthropists, dancers, scientists, musicians and clergy come together to share their individual contributions to the re-making of the world as it ought to be. People talk about things like “re-humanizing” and “being generative”—which are really ways of describing the redemptive work that God is doing through people of faith.

Bruce Herman, an artist and lecturer, pointed out the contrast of artistic styles from someone like Damien Hirst (who barely touches his work) to Andy Goldworthy and Wolfgang Laib (who commit such loving attention to theirs). Nigel Goodwin, actor and graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, talked about the love we must show others. He left the stage to comfort an audience member who got all choked up at one point during his talk—directly demonstrating love in action. Mona Storling and her dancers related the story of the woman caught in adultery in a surprising way and with such visual force that it took my breath away.

Makoto Fujimura, the founder of IAM, shared with us his latest project: the illumination of the four gospels in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. Li Young Lee read with humility poems that were saturated with love for God. They sounded like new psalms, with humanity meeting God in each line.

In addition to feasting on all these presentations, I got great joy from seeing old friends and making new ones from all over the world. IAM brings together such fascinating people! And they are so open to sharing about their journeys through the realm of faith and art. I was especially excited to meet a group of believers that are active in China.

Now I am back home, trying to digest it all. I am pregnant with vision—and bursting to create.

Gathering

As believers, we are called to live our lives in Christ. So if our living, breathing and being is in Christ, then our art will be in Him also.

This means that the artwork we create does not have to be directly based on an explicitly religious topic to be “about” God and His redemptive work. It can depict a landscape or the human form. It can be representational or abstract. It can be a painting, an installation or any other media. As long as we have our being in Christ, the Spirit of Christ will manifest in our art—which means we can touch the viewer with the message of the gospel and thereby change a life.

This is one reason I believe it is important to pray before we start working. We want to remain open for God to inspire us, to drop a vision into us for our next work. This time of seeking divine inspiration is essential for the Christian artist. Sometimes, it only takes a nanosecond for us to get a completely clear vision of what we should do next. Other times, we may get a powerful but vague feeling that only becomes clear over a long period of time. But we do our best to seek—trusting in the promise that we will find.

I often walk around for weeks with several ideas for new projects forming in my spirit. If I am working on a project already, I have to push other new ideas more to the background to be called on when I feel am ready to execute them with God's blessing. But when I have finished a project and I’m ready for the next one, I walk around "gathering" for a while. I keep my eyes and spirit open to any and all input that might possibly be helpful to my next project. It might just be a certain color or shape. It might be an existing work of art by someone else. It may be some mood or idea that I'd like to convey. I might cut out a picture from a magazine or print out an article from the web.

This is also the time when I think about what physical materials would work best and where could I get them. I may start to buy and collect what I think I’m going to need for the project—even if I’m not entirely sure exactly what the project will be yet.

If this is a group project, this is the time to share with the group. By discussing the vision, everyone can start getting more inspired and make decisions about what they should do. Discussion also allow you to uncover any weak points in the vision or the work plan.

Often, the ideas that God gives us are a surprise. He will give us something to do that we could never have thought of ourselves, something completely unexpected. So, as Christian artists, we should always be prepared to gather inspirations for projects that God wants to birth in us by His Holy Spirit.

Preparing A Place

Bamboo forest in Huang Shan mountains 'feels like a sanctuary'

A group of Art and Design students from Beijing who heard my teaching on Infinite Creativity contacted me. They asked for some guidance as to how to combine their faith with their art. Currently there seems to be no precedent or teaching on that subject in China. The following is my first of five emails back to them.

The most important thing to me as an artist is to arrange my priorities and dedicate my work to God daily. Whatever I do, I do it unto God (1 Cor 10:31, Col. 3:17) That way, by the time I get to work on my current art project, I have already practiced communication with God. That communication does not always have to be verbal - it often is like a mental and emotional alignment with God's will - a preparation of a place in my heart for God to lead me through the project.

Then there is the physical place that needs preparation. No matter how big or how small the space is for me to do artwork, it has to be clear of clutter, preferably dedicated to doing creative work. I like my space to be quiet, others like to play music or thrive on the bustling street noise of a city. I like to work in the daylight hours, for others the shine of the computer screen is enough. Whatever your preference, prepare a place in your heart for God, and a place in your room for your work. It should be like a sanctuary where everything is dedicated to God.

Wurzeln 1

The concept for this exhibit came to me a year ago. It felt like God just sort of dropped it into my consciousness. I carried it with me for about a year – although I was only able to work on it sporadically until about three months before the exhibit date.

The concept came to fruition at the exhibit opening on Saturday, October 16. The title of the exhibit was Wurzeln, which is German for “roots.” And roots were the symbol I wanted to use to express how my father-in-law Lee Liebmann was uprooted as a fourteen-year-old boy in Germany.

To express this idea, I wanted real roots from the town where Lee grew up. A family friend was willing to dig up some roots from Lee’s hometown of Limburg – as well as the village of Ellar where previous generations of Liebmanns had lived for centuries before. Since roots are considered agricultural goods, our friend was not able to mail them to me. So my friend gave them to another friend, who I met when I went to Germany myself in September. I took the roots across the border to Switzerland when I drove there to visit my Mom – and then packed them into my suitcase and brought them with me to the US. The path the roots took actually re-traced the path many Jews took to freedom during WWII.

In the exhibit, the roots are simply laying on a glass table. They symbolize the lost past of the Jewish communities in Limburg and Ellar. A single red thread represents the divinely preserved connection from the roots to the family Lee started in the United States.

About the exhibit

This exhibit is a celebration of the life of Lee Liebmann, a Jewish American who was born in Limburg, Germany and was forced to flee for his life when he was only 14 years old. By celebrating this life, this exhibit also honors the larger story of Europe’s Jews—who, in addition to perishing by the millions in Nazi concentration camps, were also compelled by the destruction of their historic communities to make entirely new lives for themselves in new lands.

Blessing Doves

During the opening of the 9-11 art show in Ansbach, Germany, I met up with my friend Sandra Ceas. Both of us had artwork on display at the show. Sandra was the keynote speaker and I had the honor of lighting a candle in remembrance of those who died on 9-11 and those who died in the ensuing conflicts.

One of Sandra's ongoing projects is to release white clay doves as a symbol of blessing and peace. She places her doves in unlikely spots, in the hope that somebody will find them. Each handmade dove will be an unexpected blessing to somebody. You can find information and photos about this project at www.art4him.net

Sandra gave me seven doves to take back to Switzerland. It was such a joy to set them out. Finding the 'right' place for them was special and even exciting. On two occasions, the dove was found and taken within half an hour. I had returned from my walk and passed by the same spot where I had placed the dove. It was empty now. The big smile stayed on my on my face for quite a while. And now, just thinking of it, the smile is revisiting my face.

Deadline Approaching

I have received over three hundred cards so far. Help me reach my goal of five hundred cards by the end of this month.

Call for Participation

Art for Stripes 2010

To support wounded Soldiers and other heroes returning home from the battlefield,

International Arts Movement and Reflections of Generosity are working together to create a

CD with songs about restoration and healing. In order to make every CD

special, we plan on including original artwork inside the cover of each CD.

Our goal is to have five hundred art pieces by July 31, 2010. Selected cards will be exhibited

in Katterbach Germany for the 9-11 memorial ceremony.

Size: 4.75" x 4.75" (must fit into CD jewel case)

Surface: Card stock or paper

Medium: Any medium that does not interfere with CD

Fee: None

You may submit as many cards as you like. Please put personal words of encouragement, a

poem, or anything else you think would be appropriate on the back of the cards.

Please send completed cards to:

Art for Stripes

Gerda Liebmann

1 William Street

Highlands, NJ 07732

What do China's Christians have to learn about art?

This is a troubling title. It's a challenge I am faced with right now. I have been invited to speak at Christian Teachers' meeting in Guangzhou, China, and at a National Christian Teachers' Conference in an undisclosed location, also in China. Both are Underground meetings. The topic of my speech is: Infinite Creativity.

China has a rich art history of which I have to admit I am very ignorant. At the same time the believers in the house churches that I met last year can't wait for me to get back to them. They are hungry for anything that comes from Jesus. Isn't He the creator of everything?

The first thing that God does in Genesis 1:1 is to create. And today, He creates still. Every life, everything that is new comes from Him. He even breathes fresh life into those who are dead. The end of the story? A brand new, sparkling and beautiful Jerusalem, created and inhabited by God, will be coming down from the clouds. God is the source of infinite creativity and my goal is to connect the teachers at the conference to that source.