For the installation on the left (west) side, Molly Elkind created a two-part sculpture entitled Where the Earth Meets the Sky. Molly made this piece out of handmade paper, stitching, and hand-dyed silk. A dyed fabric backdrop evokes the starry spaces in which our earth and its atmosphere find their home.
Close-up view of the sculptured pieces
The Artist's Statement for this exhibit:
“And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth.” Genesis 1:9-10
When I made this piece almost ten years ago, the Creation story of Genesis was on my mind, and I was working a lot with handmade paper. Often I would press damp sheets of paper to the trunks of trees to dry, thereby embossing them with the tree’s bark texture. For this piece, I then formed, painted, and stitched the sculptures from this textured paper. Stitching on the green “earth” form resembles the lines on maps, while on the “sky” form it resembles the planets and their orbits. Each piece is lined with contrasting silk whose color links it to its counterpart. While there is space between the “earth” and the “sky” I like to think the two pieces are in dialogue with each other.
In the niche on the right, Nancy Langham created a mixed-media sculpture entitled And It Was So, utilizing tree branches, an altered book, and stitched "leaves".
Artist's Statement:
This work is meant to be a visual expression of appreciation for the symmetry between the first chapter of Genesis and the first chapter of John. In Genesis, God literally speaks creation into existence (And God said “Let there be light”). In the prologue to John, the evangelist affirms that the same creative force that formed the universe has become flesh and lived among us, and this force is referred to as the Word (or logos, in the original Greek.)
Scholars say that the Greek word logos has a wide range of meaning, but is usually translated as the “word of God”. The Greek letters for logos are used in the altered book that is the focal point of this artwork. By including Scripture passages and a book and a tree, it is hoped that viewers will be inspired to contemplate the relationships between words, books, trees, the Creation Story, and the Word.
Close-up view of the altered book
Close-up view of the stitched leaves
