March Musings

It's snowing outside. It has been wet, cold, white, grey for months now. I waged war with February and managed to come out alive. I've learned to swim this winter. There is something magical about being at the pool while the wind blows snow into the windows. March 20th is around the corner, which means spring will certainly come to us. Here, it is already full-blown winter when the solstice arrives and still under a blanket of snow when the vernal equinox announces the arrival of thaw. There is all together too much winter here.

While the snow melt has leaked into our basement, I've been wading through two inches of water, dusting off sculptures and heaving them up the stairs and onto my kitchen counter. I really need a studio.

Nonetheless, having these sculptures around feels like home. My hands in action, moving clay, raking over the surfaces with tiny tools, feels like home. The smell, home. The heaviness of the armature, clay, board, pipe, somehow home, too. And yet, in this place, I am not entirely sure how to do this. I am at last comfortable in my role as Asha's mom and think that it might be possible to be "sculptor mom." It isn't that. It's the network of mold-makers, welders, sculpture movers, marble carvers, models and a vibrant drawing group that I've lost. How do I do sculpture here, without all of them?

Something new must be born. A new way of working, a new scale, new materials. I have discovered there here in Grove City, there are many creative people- artists, musicians, craftsmen, dancers. But, until recently, it seems that they have been hiding. A wonderful artist, Stacey (Please, please, please look at her blog. You will fall in love with her paintings!) moved to town about the same time I did. In fact, she and I looked at the same houses when we were shopping for real estate. She has brought a fabulous art show to our local coffee shop and enlivened this city! The next show will be soon: March 25-26th! I'll be doing a sculpture demonstration on the 26th from 10am-4pm.

Creativity has been steaming under the surface in Grove City and is now bubbling out. I am in fervent prayer that this place will open itself to creativity. I, also, have my eyes on a studio downtown that I hope will be a sanctuary for other "artist moms." Keep posted for more news on that!

the Nude and the Christian

As an artist who specializes in figurative sculpture, I have spent countless hours in the studio working with nude models. It is a time-honored practice in the Classical tradition, employed by artists throughout the centuries. Depictions of the nude are an important aspect in understanding the history of art in the West. The Department of Art at Gordon College states that the study of the “nude has much more in common with medical knowledge than with popular sexualization of images in advertising and movies. An art studio with students or artists surrounding a model is akin to the operating theater. Knowledge is being gained and a professional activity is being practiced.”

Many of those who oppose the use of nude models for Christian artists do not draw a proper distinction between pornography and fine art, between naked and nude. Pornography seeks to tear body from spirit, rendering flesh disembodied, and exploiting that which was made in the image of God. Pornographers reduce humanity, usually women, from temples of flesh to tools of debased pleasure in exchange for money. The nude in art celebrates the beauty, the mystery and the delight of God’s creation. The artist marvels at the complexity of the human form, the perfection of original design, even as it is broken, marred by sin. Exposing Christian eyes to redemptive images of humanity can work as an antidote to the damage done by pornography.

God created the heavens and the earth, the sky and the moon, the sea, the fishes, birds, land and all that inhabit it, plants and animals alike. When He was finished at the end of each day, He was pleased with His work and called it “good.” On the sixth day, He created male and female in His own image. Satisfied with His work, He called it “very good.” Humans, made in the image of God, are the crowning glory of His creation.

That we are fallen and that sin has entered the world does not negate the “very good-ness” of God’s creation. He sent His only begotten Son—incarnate, that is “in flesh,” like us— to live among us, to die, and resurrect, destroying death and the grave. As we look forward to the Heavenly Jerusalem, we groan in this fallen world. Some of us are called to create artwork that hopes for and imagines that glory to come. When we receive garments in the world to come, they will not be to hide our nakedness, for there will be no shame in the Heavenly City. Rather, we will receive robes as adornment.

To be a Christian artist, redeemed by the Son of God, is to have a holy imagination, celebrating the very handiwork of God, and bringing glory to the astonishing creativity and goodness of our Creator.

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I highly recommend going to Gordon College's website and reading their statement on nude models at a Christian college.