ECVA - Sally Brower - Stories from the Road

Radiant Sea

Photograph

Artist Statement: Isaiah 60:5 says, "Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you." On pilgrimage in Portugal, we visited the Chapel of the Lord of the Sea in Miramar. Legend has it that the image of Christ emerged from the sea at this spot and it was taken as a sign from heaven to build a church on this former pagan site. The miracle is that it has survived since the 17th century with the constant assault of huge waves and tides. For me, the radiant, surprising moment came when my photo caught the exact time when two huge waves crashed simultaneously. It said to me that the promise to see and be radiant, for your heart to thrill and rejoice, was ever present. There are still magnificent moments on our journeys.

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 encounter, 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. My jewelry making uses my photos of Mary and the saints to create contemporary reliquaries. Rather than containing a relic, each piece preserves the work of an anonymous sculptor from an ancient cathedral and a devotional image providing a sacred connection.