Curator's Statement

Two thousand years ago, as Jesus' apostles gathered in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit descended upon them "like a rushing mighty wind," flickering in dancing flames upon their heads. Literally or metaphorically, the image is a powerful one. The Spirit transformed the apostles as explosively as a spark bursts to flame. It burned within them as evangelical fire, making believers by the thousands; healing the sick; working miracles. It branded into the apostles, mostly uneducated Galileans, the gift to speak God's word in every listener's native tongue: perhaps a deeply private language kindled in the heart.

Until that day, people thought the Holy Spirit touched high priests and chosen kings – not you and me. Yet the Spirit's presence within the ragtag band of apostles was clear to thousands around them. Its presence within our own lives can seem equally unmistakable – be it mystifying, frightening, joyous, or simply inexplicable. How do we react?

For this exhibition, we sought art to respond to, and reflect, artists' ideas of the Holy Spirit – the divine mystery – and how it moves within and upon us. Some contributors engaged the experience of the Spirit directly, portraying the rustle of dove's wings, tongues of flame. Others chose to show the workings of that which is wonderfully simple, yet defies reduction to what we can explain or quantify. We are shown a crocus unfurling in morning dew; and a dragonfly, still wet from hatching, too new to take wing. Another artist paints the magical, evocative fall of light from a window; and the luminous expression on a little girl's face when, surrounded by spangles of childish finery, she suddenly sees herself as beautiful. A photographer captures a heart formed by lashings of silk at a cathedral Pentecost service. That heart existed in one fleeting second; it will never come again.

In the accompanying artist statements, some artists write overtly of their spirituality; others are more reticent. The unspoken can be equally profound.

One artist comments, "Working with glass is a transforming process. The pieces are broken, change shape, fit together, and then are made whole again..." Who among us has not felt broken? Isn't the experience of brokenness, then changing shape and fitting together, the very fabric of our lives?

Another says, "I paint because I do not understand. I love, but I do not understand the ground of the love. Illuminating light bumps up against the most shadowy mysteries."

Illuminating light indeed. What is the Spirit, if not the essence of light, wind, fire, a shaking of the earth and a movement upon the waters? Those are the elements of our existence.

I chose this exhibition's content in hopes of evoking the Spirit's presence in our world. No two of us define or experience that presence in the same way. Perhaps we each meet the unknowns of the holy in the native language of our own heart.

As I was drafting this essay, a small miracle of delight descended. A scarlet-red cardinal perched at my window, gazed at me, bobbed his orange beak a few times; then fluttered away. He's never been here before, and he hasn't been back since. Joy lands in the most unexpected places.

May we welcome the mystery.

Brie Dodson
Curator

Brie Dodson is a realist painter who seeks to convey a sense of the "unseen eternal" in her work. She lives in Virginia with her husband and sons, and is honored to serve as ECVA's Director of Communications. Please feel welcome to contact her through her website, http://briedodson.com.