Scripture teaches us that
spiritual sight is a form of comprehension
taught to us by the Spirit of God and can only be
understood with the help of the Spirit. The concept
reminds me of the curious way two persons can take the
same journey, drawing profoundly different impressions.
Perhaps Elizabeth Barrett Browning defined spiritual
sight best:
"All of earth is crammed
with heaven,
and every bush aflame with God,
but only those who see take off their shoes."
The
artists who responded to “Spiritual Sight” are those who
do see, figuratively taking off their shoes
at the sight of the holy and capture images of the world
aflame with God. Their work may soothe or startle, but
either way, it awakens us to the call of the Spirit of
God to comprehend eternal truths from the world we
inhabit.
The opening image for
“Spiritual Sight” is a Celtic sun dial
reminding us of the profound spiritual wisdom found in
valuing nature and walking with God and all of his
creatures of the world.
The light of the sun, an
ancient manifestation of God, gives us symbols
with which to see spiritual truths and reminds us that
our maker is “Light from light, true God from true God.”
In works shown here the stamen of a flower resembles the
sun itself, without which it could not grow, yet lilies
bloom in the dark, sending roots inward where spiritual
growth happens; red and gold bands represent the joy of
the sun and the redemption of man through baptism as a
gift of God while fabric art depicts the waning of the
light during a mountain twilight; mist rises from
valleys in mountains during times of low light, and
shadows in an orchard challenge us to consider our
responsibility toward this earthly paradise God has
provided. Relics glow golden; a mandala glows with first
light; Gethsemane twinkles with filtered light, catching
the intense colors of the garden’s flowers; an etching
of light invites us to contemplate the possibility that
we are part of what we see – sunshine, starlight – and
that we are living in a constant and current creation.
Creation of the world is envisioned by multiple artists,
while another reveals unity as a twinkling light of
energy and another responds to C.S. Lewis’ description
of the energy of the Creator as bands and "corpuscles"
of light and color.
The theme of light reveals the
Holy Trinity in
magnificent colors of the rainbow, and a sunset is
captured for eternity in stained glass. One artist found
a cross created by windowpanes and light. Prisms of the
rainbow fill Grace Cathedral, and similarly, yet so
differently, gold leaf and vermilion “dots of holiness”
lead the way to the light at the National Cathedral. The
artist so aptly states, “Creativity is where the veil
between man and God becomes transparent.”
Nature is another subject used
to provide glimpses of spiritual sight. One
artist invites us to see all the hidden and revealed
aspects of life with an image of pure white Solomon’s
seal; another shows us a rose blooming beside a Celtic
Cross; another shows us that the Good Friday cross is
more than merely wood. An icon shares the burning bush
of Moses, and another artist shares the vibrant colors
of her garden while an iris arches over a peaceful
mountain pass.
Man-made symbols are subjects
that reveal spiritual truths as the ichthus
carved in stone reveals multiple layers of symbol that
may be decoded through spiritual sight. Palms on the
doors of a church in Zanibar show us a Christian
community that does not give up nor measure its
spiritual experiences in earthly terms.
Artists also turned to
scripture and the Book of Common Prayer to
examine spiritual sight found therein.
More than any other expression revealed by “Spiritual
Sight”, I see the
intense joy experienced by artists who revel in the
pleasure of being alive and being allowed to see. Take
off your shoes and join them as you approach the burning
bush that is the presence of God in this world.
Jan Neal,
Curator
ECVA Program Director
