Individuals

Here is an effort to reveal and appreciate something that’s often hidden and/or discarded. An effort to draw attention to the value of looking back, or looking deeper, and evaluating ourselves, our norms, the world we find ourselves in, our timeline and that of this world. It aims to celebrate openness, honesty, truth. It seeks to comment on the notion of foundations, what went before, what’s underneath or behind, essential but underrated, and its value in creating meaning, in forming something that’s open to viewing. Connected is the play of our desire to want to see, to dig, unearth, investigate and reveal, with our desire to hide, to be ignorant, to smooth over in the name of fear and pride, comfort and ease. So here is my palette, here are the stains of my movement, here’s my system, my timeline, my layers, here’s my space-controlled drawing size, here’s what I like to draw, here’s the ancient mountain that’s ‘overdrawn’, here’s my favored view that towers above my life below, here’s my drop in the bucket, here’s my faith, here’s my lens.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” - John 1:1-5 ESV

In a world characterised by the constant push to achieve, to perform, to please, and in a mind so infected by it – that freedom, joy, peace – rest – is so needed, so desired, yet so impossible for mere humans to achieve, and unrest so difficult to escape even when you’ve found true rest.

Unfortunately, tragically, this unrest taints my art making and career as an artist – so here is a break away. An attempt at a restful, enjoyable process enjoying my medium that I’ve longed to work with again for so long, enjoying my colours, enjoying my mountain subject, this beautiful symbol of rest, in an expressive way, playing again, experimenting. A resting from my recent tiresome way of working, from my usual medium, from the ‘brand’ I’ve been trying to create, from financial pressure and the pressure to be clever and original, from outside and personal pressures. It’s my simple metaphor and reminder of the true freedom that Christ brings – although not fully experienced in this life, a sense of rest in a world of unrest, the rest that comes from being reconciled to your maker, having your true enemy defeated, knowing your true identity and receiving a worth and validation that isn’t dependant on you or an unpredictable world, and the welcome promise of an eternal, perfect rest to come – that is all received by a simple, humble submission.

Here’s an encouragement, an invitation, from one restless being, who found rest but keeps needing to remind herself of it and experience it afresh, to another – there is rest.

‘“…Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”’ – Matthew 11:28-30 ESV