ECVA - Sally Brower - Sacrament and Image

By Your Altars, O Lord

Photograph

Artist Statement: One of my favorite bible verses is Psalm 84:3, "Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God." When I discovered the stork nests on the many church towers of Spain and Portugal, I was reminded of this verse. In early Christianity, the stork symbolizes innocence, modesty, kindness and loyalty. In early Catholic understanding, it was associated with the image of the Virgin Mary, no doubt related to its being a symbol of motherly love. Storks fiercely guard their nests, the largest of all birds' nests. Storks are also a symbol of birth and new life. In the Orient, the stork symbolizes immortality and in ancient Egypt storks were revered as a symbol of the soul. I did not know all that it symbolized when I first encountered the beautiful storks and their nests, but I took photographs of nests in church tower after church tower, and as I approached one, a stork feather dropped down to me, reminding me that my heart always seeks a place beside the Lord’s altar.

Bio: In my vocation as priest and as artist, I endeavor to evoke the holy. I use visual art and writing to invite others to awaken to the mystery of love at the heart of the universe, risk sacred encounters, and cross the threshold of their heart's deepest hopes. I graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and studied photography, encaustic and frame building with Taos artist Mikel Robinson. I am currently working with photography from pilgrimages to holy places and in nature, each one a record of a moment when the divine spoke to me through the incarnate world. brower.sally@gmail.com