| Suspended Installations: |
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| PAPER CRANES The origami cranes were folded in prayer for people with AIDS by the members of the Episcopal diocese of San Francisco. The installation is five layers thick, and suggests rising prayer and descending spirit. |
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To see video, select link on right.
Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago asked me create this work for their capital campaign. The project involved the fabrication of 5,000 doves and stars attached to a large net of fishing line. Given the time constraints, I was clear that I wasn't going to be able to make all of the pieces myself, so the project became a fundraiser for our little church, Evergreen Methodist. Fourth Presbyterian paid a fee to Evergreen Methodist for the creation of the installation, and members of our church provided the labor. We infused each of the doves and stars with intention and sent the pieces as a blessing to the church in Chicago.
It was a wonderful occasion of a tiny little church partnering with a large church in a way that benefited both communities.
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For "Tongues of Fire," nylon net is carefully painted to create the Pentecost canopy.
When I'm done with a piece, I'll converse with it. I'll ask, "What am I supposed to learn from you? What are you about? Is there anything to change?"
The first time I installed "Tongues of Fire" in a church in Berkeley, CA, I could see that I needed more color-most of the fabric strips were plain white. But when I asked the piece if there was anything to change, it said, "I'm backwards." Instead of fanning out from the altar, the focal point was at the back of the church, and it wanted to be the other way around. And so in all other installations of the work, it has its "starting point" at the altar.
This last time I installed the piece in Grace Cathedral, with the awareness that it was the final piece of my career. I didn't ask it a question, like I've done in the past. I asked it to bless me.
| PRAYER CANOPY For ten weeks, the nature of relationships was explored in preaching (liturgy) and in teaching (formation programs) [at St. Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis]. In the second week, participants were each given a strip of sheer cloth, about 1" x 6", and asked to reflect on a particular relationship in their lives and to pray about the relationship during this time. Then with paint or thread, by assembling a collage or by writing on the fabric, or in whatever way they wished, participants were encouraged to use the cloth as an artifact of that prayer. I returned to the cathedral after nine weeks, and with the congregation, wove these pieces into a huge canopy of the people's prayers that went from the back to the front of the nave. Then the context for the work of art came alive in liturgy. The pastoral team organized a wonderful service of lessons and carols that we held under the canopy on Mother's Day. Excerpted from Spaces for Spirit: Adorning the Church, Liturgy Training Publications, Chicago, 1998 |
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Fourth Church Presbyterian, Chicago, IL
Hearts and Hands was made by the people at Fourth Church. The elements are hung from a net that was set in place high above the cathedral floor. It's a piece about stewardship, about how our work makes God's work visible in the world.
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