Members' update: Nadiya Pavliv Tokarska

Nadiya Pavliv Tokarska is exhibiting at the Edith Stein House in Wroclaw, Poland, this weekend as part of a fascinating weekend of events. The Edith Stein Society is inspired by the diversity of Edith Stein to create a space for cooperation, dialogue and development that shapes an active and responsible society.

Sermon: Emmaus epiphany

As part of ongoing work designed to develop temporary and possibly permanent artworks in the parish of St Paul's Harlow and St Mary's Parndon, which will involve a study day on 'The value of public art' on Saturday 19th September at St Paul's Harlow, Jonathan Evens preached the following sermon today at St Paul's Harlow:

 

Thanks very much for the invitation to come along to St Paul’s today. It’s great to be here. As Rev. Martin Harris has mentioned I’m part of a group of artists called commission4mission which encourages churches to use contemporary art. We are the people who put together the Church art trail leaflets for the Barking Episcopal Area which feature St Paul's Harlow because of its artistic importance in terms of its architecture and the ‘Emmaus’ mosaic by John Piper, something which I’m told Martin manages to mention in each of his sermons! I’m here today with Robert Enoch (who installed your Easter pillars) and we’re here because we would like to work with your church to develop new pieces of art as part of your vision for the growth of this church and as part of the mission work you are undertaking in Harlow.

 

So I’m going to talk for a few minutes about some ways in which art can open our eyes to see more of God in our world. I’m going to start, naturally enough, with a painting.

 

(Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio)

 

I wonder if any of the children or young people here could tell me what they see in this painting by Caravaggio. Did anyone here watch the quiz show called ‘Catchphrase’ that used to be on ITV on Saturday nights? ‘Catchphrase’ had its own catchphrase which was ‘Say what you see’ and that is a good rule of thumb to remember whenever you look at a painting. So, who would like to say what they can see in this painting?

• Who is at the centre of the picture?
• How does the artist make sure we focus on Jesus?
• Why is Jesus the central person in the picture?
• What is Jesus doing?
• How are the other people reacting to him?

At the centre of the picture and at the centre of the story is a very simple and ordinary action; breaking bread or tearing a loaf of bread into two pieces. Although it is a simple and ordinary thing to do, it becomes a very important act when Jesus does it because that is the moment when Jesus’ two disciples realise who he is. They suddenly realise that this stranger who they have been walking with and talking to for hours is actually Jesus himself, risen from the dead. They are amazed and thrilled, shocked and surprised, and we can see that clearly on the faces and in the actions of the disciples as they are portrayed in this painting.

Something very simple and ordinary suddenly becomes full of meaning and significance. This simple, ordinary action opens their eyes so that they can suddenly see Jesus as he really is. That is art in action! Art captures or creates moments when ordinary things are seen as significant. When our eyes are suddenly opened, in this way, to see meaning and significance in something that we had previously thought of as simple and ordinary, that is called an epiphany.

There is a time in the Church calendar that is also called Epiphany. Who can remember when Epiphany is? What do we remember and celebrate in the season of Epiphany? At Epiphany we remember the Magi or Wise Men coming to visit Jesus as a young child.

 

In the Epiphany icon above Jesus has a halo and is being spotlighted by the star that led the Magi to him but Jesus would actually have been a very ordinary looking young boy. There wouldn’t have been anything special that the Magi would have seen that marked him out as being significant but nevertheless they realised who he was and worshipped him. They saw the significance of the ordinary looking child they had come to visit and that is why they had an epiphany. By giving Jesus a halo and spotlighting him with a star, this painting focuses our attention on the significance of Jesus, rather than this ordinariness. It shows us the significance that the Magi saw in this ordinary looking child through their epiphany.

An epiphany happens when an everyday reality becomes charged with spiritual significance. This is what art can do for us. It can give us epiphanies by helping us see ordinary things in new ways. Caravaggio’s painting does that for us. It is a painting of an epiphany but it is also an epiphany itself because it brings the story to life in a way that helps us see it afresh, as though we were seeing it for the first time.

 

You have a wonderful and important work of art in your Church – John Piper’s ‘Emmaus’ mosaic. It is important because John Piper was a significant British artist and also because this mosaic is probably the first that he made for a Church. Whatever you think about it, whether you like it or not, because you see it so often it is likely that you often don’t really notice it or think anything much of it. That is what happens whenever something becomes very familiar to us. How could we change that so that we start to see it afresh, as though we were seeing it again for the very first time?

Art could do that for us? One of the ideas that Robert Enoch has suggested for this Church would make that happen, if it was tried as a temporary installation, by covering up the mosaic initially with another design; like this …

 

Then over several weeks more and more of the mosaic would be revealed until the whole image was visible once again.

 

We’re not saying that that idea will definitely happen – that would be for you to decide as a Church and we would like to discuss some of our ideas with you after the service is over – but, if that installation were to happen it would have the effect of helping you see your ‘Emmaus’ mosaic again as though for the first time. Just as the disciples had an epiphany when they saw Jesus as though for the first time, this artwork would help you to have a similar epiphany about your ‘Emmaus’ mosaic.

Something similar could happen with the Church building too. Lots of people locally will come into the centre of Harlow regularly and walk straight past this building as though it isn’t there. Again, it is something so familiar that they don’t stop to look at it and see it as though for the first time. Once again, art could make them stop and stare. Another of our ideas is to project images at night onto the west windows of the church. Changing or moving images in those windows, again as a temporary installation, could make local people stop and look again at this building. Through the projected images we could show on the outside something of what happens on the inside and that might make people stop and look and see this church – the building and the people – as though for the very first time.

This is what art can do and when art gives us epiphanies like this then our eyes are opened, as were the eyes of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and we see something of God in the ordinary, everyday things around us. Whether we like the idea of the artworks that I’ve mentioned this morning or not, having epiphanies, seeing God in the everyday, seeing heaven in the ordinary, now that is something for which each of us should pray on a daily basis. Art can help to make that happen for us but our prayer should first and foremost be may our eyes be opened to see the glory of God all around us, whether that comes through art or by some other means. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

Artist's update

Robert Enoch's latest work has been a Pentecost Installation at St Mary's Hemel Hempstead (see first photo above). He and Jonathan Evens will lead services at St Paul's Harlow (where Robert created an Easter installation) on Sunday 3rd July as part of ongoing work which commission4mission is undertaking with the church and which is intended to lead to a Study Day on Saturday 17th September exploring the value of public art.

Elizabeth Duncan Meyer is showing in Take Five, a mixed show at the Piers Feetham Gallery of work by Duncan Meyer, Maurice Moeri, Suzanne Osborne, Minna Fry and Maureen Sweeny until this coming Saturday. The show includes paintings, prints, sculpture and glasswork.

Jonathan Evens has a solo show in the commission4mission space at All Saints West Ham until 21st July (church opening times, see church website for details). He is showing a selection of photographs from his Windows on the world series plus his Broken journey, fragmented story installation (see photos 2 - 5 above). His show will be at All Saint's throughout their West Ham Festival, which includes concerts, a gala dinner, exhibitions and a range of other events and services. Other work due to be shown during the West Ham Festival can be seen in photos 6-8 above, including paintings by Chandrakumar Sukumaran.

Art for Easter Sunday and beyond

The panoramas above show the colour columns that Robert Enoch installed at St Paul's Harlow from Easter Sunday onwards. Robert's installation is the first initiative in what we hope will be a developing relationship with the church from which a range of arts initiatives may develop. In the next development Robert and Jonathan Evens will contribute to an arts-related service at St Paul's on 3rd July.

Also on display from Easter Sunday has been Adam Boulter's The Resurrection at St Mary Aldermary. Adam's modern reinterpretation of the Stations of the Cross enabled reflection and prayer prior to Easter Sunday but without the 14th resurrection station, which has been on display from Easter Sunday onwards. A podcast of Adam talking with Ian Mobsby about the display can be downloaded from here. In this podcast, Ian and Adam explore the importance of art in spirituality, and the tradition of stations of the cross.  

E17 Art Trail @ St Barnabas Walthamstow

Fr. Steven Saxby has provided information about the diverse range of artists which St Barnabas, Walthamstow is hosting this year for the E17 Art Trail. Their private view and "meet the artists" event is tomorrow evening (Thursday 2nd September) from 8pm - 9.30pm. Click here for subsequent opening dates and times.

Anna Newson-Lyons presents 'From here to there', a collection of pictures including Funky Big Ben and Double Vision; London at night taken on the South Bank of the Thames. Mara Love and Pride are from a collection of wildlife photographs taken in the Masai Mara, Kenya. The collection also includes from dusk to dawn landscape pictures of Australia in Sunrise at Uluru and Sunset Storm in The Maldives. Handmade cards are also included in the collection of local winter scenes and summer flowers taken in Waltham Forest.

Anthony Lane presents “Lano” – two oil on canvas works.

Cinthia Oram presents two flower arrangements characteristic of her work which specialises in creating unique flower arrangements using fruits, vegetables and various materials.

Emma Scutt presents "E17 Portraits, Past & Present" inspired by the theme for this year’s Art Trail, 'Welcome to Walthamstow', which made her think of all the different people who live in the borough, and also St Barnabas church itself.

Johanna Melvin is exhibiting seascapes taken from old-fashioned nautical engravings. Jo has exhibited widely including the Royal Academy of Art, Contemporary Art Society, Flowers East Gallery and has work in several provate collections including Whitechapel Gallery Archives, John Cass Faculty of Fine Art and the Colony Room collection.

Pen Dalton presents a large wall installation 5 x 20 feet, concerned with issues of identity and entitled “Does your mother come from Ireland?” The title comes from a popular song in the early 20th Century. The installation uses documentary writings and images from the twentieth century: familial, legal, educational, popular, medical, academic, religious and cultural to show how people – in this case Pen's grandmother – interact and change their identities in and through the social world.”

Rebecca de Quin and Louise Loder are art school trained silversmiths. De Quin is a Master of Arts of the Royal College of Art where she teaches part-time. Loder received her Master of Arts award from London Guildhall University. They have shared a workshop in Walthamstow for six years where they work independently but enjoy the benefits of sharing knowledge and discussing ideas. Both explore the potential of silver to capture the imagination of a contemporary audience, but achieve very different results as shown in their exhibit 'The Art of Silver'.
Sean Pines - Fashion Photography. With a career in photography spanning over 20 years, Sean has kept ahead of current trends, consistently producing fresh, concept based images which present not only the garments, but the fantasy also.

WACVC (Walthamstow Amateur Cinevideo Club) has been going strong since 1949. The club will be exhibiting some its productions on local history and special-interest. This will include DVDs such as "Hollywood E17" which uncovers Walthamstow's secret history in the early years of the cinematic industry. Find out what the club is about and take part in a workshop on ChromaKey where we place you somewhere else using a green screen.

St Barnabas Walthamstow itself is a work of art, an architectural gem. It is a Grade II* listed building designed by W.D.Caroe and completed in 1903. The church also houses a wonderful collection of art works, some of which are highlighted below:

- ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’, lettercutting on slate behind the font (1994) by Charles Smith.
- Statue of St Barnabas (1946) by Faith-Craft Works
- a carving of ‘Christ the Good Shepherd’ (c.1890) by Peter Brunner and originally part of the Children’s Shrine at St Martin’s-in-the-Fields.
- Statue of Our Lady, Mary (1936) by Faith-Craft Works
- ‘Christ the Man of Sorrows’ – C18th copy of the painting by Luini.
- Reredos from children’s chapel of St John’s, Red Lion Square (c.1925) by Christopher Webb.
- East Window stained glass, depicting ‘Our Lord in Majesty and Twenty Four Elders casting down their Crowns’ (1903) by Clayton and Bell.
- 1902 Foundation stone (behind the main altar) by Eric Gill, then articled to W.D.Caroe.
- Statues of St Michael and two angels (by and above the main altar) (1910) by Alec Miller
- Organ corbels of David and Miriam (2000) by Charles Gurrey
- Oak Rood (large crucifix hanging above chancel steps), designed by W.D.Caroe and carved by Nathaniel Hitch (1921)
- Statue of St James (c.1950) by Faith-Craft Works
- Green reredos designed by Julian Litten (1989) and incorporating panels of the four evangelists (painted c.1860)
- Stations of the Cross – currently lying flat on pews in south aisle.

Robert Enoch

'Resurrection' at the Brightlights Festival

'The Cup at Gethsemene'

Robert Enoch makes art, films and photographs. His art is an exciting exploration of colour, form, movement and meaning. He makes artistic interpretations of the Bible in a visionary form, has made artistic installations for the church that visually explore and interpret the Gospels and has recently finished new work for the Brightlights Festival 2010. His recent films are a blend of social documentary and corporate video. In his photographs he searches the environment for images of piercing meaning among everyday things. Free is an on-going collection of photographs by Robert of the words FREE and FREEDOM. His entry in the ECVA Artists Registry can be viewed by clicking here.

Go Well, Be Well

Ally Clarke

"Oh My Word" bottled water

Ally Clarke has been involved in several recent collaborative projects, the latest being a commissioned work for Camberwell Arts Week.

Oh My Word (Gillian Arnold, Ally Clarke, Claire Hart and Holly Robertson) charted the water flow from Camberwell’s ancient well through installation, printing and textile art. As well as highlighting aspects of Camberwell’s past, their work raised questions about marketing and how this affect our perceptions of an area – as well as the ongoing pursuit of health and well-being.

Ally writes that:

"The focus of the piece was referring back to a time when Camberwell was an aspirational destination for those seeking refreshment and it's healing waters. We linked this historical reference with the question for today "where can I get this healing water?" and produced 'merchandise' with the slogan "Go Well Be Well". It was great. We created our own branded water product and had it on display in local bars and cafes and staff in these venues wore tee shirts with the same slogan and we put our posters all around the town."

Installations by Ally Clarke - 2. Agony of Hope

In it's original form the 'Agony of Hope' installation took the viewer through various different rooms and included film and drawing, as well as constructed elements. In summary, the work made use of the tree as a symbol of life and paper aeroplanes as a vehicle of individuals' hopes. Clearly, in being restaged, the work would need to be adapted to the venue but anyone interested in hosting this installation should contact commission4mission to discuss arrangements and options with Ally Clarke.

‘The Agony of Hope’ is a state of being we may experience at some point in our lives - the hope of rescue from danger, despair or pain, awaiting the fulfilment of a promise, the longing for a lover, a child ...

This hope can be cyclical - a weighty burden that seems to drag all aspects of life down with it and at other times, invigorating and inspirational and fuel for determination.

The imagery in this installation includes:

• the tree; a symbol of life, safety, reliability and throwing from the tree - the launching and release of our hopes;
• tubes hover and marks are made by the tree’s twigs, charting our pathway through our landscape as we commit to moving on;
• a sense of being burdened by a dragging and painful load is suggested in the use of literal weights - writhing, dangling, twisting, stretching ... this state goes on until a final breaking through;
• branches - broken elements from the tree become something new, something we can climb on to move upward to an unknown but enticing future. Paper air-planes become vehicles of our hopes. Each plane is personal and either literally or metaphorically, has our hopes inscribed. As a paper air-plane is launched, unsure how the design and currents will affect its flight, we too launch and release our hopes, motivated by the prospect of our hopes coming to fruition and more.

Installations by Ally Clarke - 1. Chosen Stones

For her first piece of work as Artist in Residence at the Bradfield Club, Ally Clarke wanted to create an artwork that in some way would enable her to become more connected to the Club - its origins, history and current contributors. In addition, she wanted to convey her heartfelt belief that the Bradfield Club is a special place and has a significant part to play in the realisation of a living, vibrant hope for the community in this time.

Everyone involved in the Bradfield Club was invited to give a stone for this artwork as a symbol of their connectedness to the Club. It was a real joy to receive each individually selected stone and Ally was deeply impressed by the thoughtfulness and generosity of the participants.

At the base of each of the twelve rising strands are stones from the Bradfield College - where the Club has its foundation and ongoing, essential support, along with stones from the immediate area around the Bradfield Club in Peckham. These link with other stones in the strands - an invisible connectedness - hinting at the unseen yet beautiful orchestration of God in and through our lives.

It was Ally's hope that in viewing the work those at the Bradfield Club would have a sense of wonder at their uniqueness and the invaluable contribution they make in their sphere of life and be able to delight in the fact that in wholesome alignment with God and others, an amazing living and eternal building project is taking place.

Now, assuming that space is available which could accommodate an installation, an exhibition with the 3D work 'Chosen Stones' and related 2D prints and mixed-media work can be made available by Ally at short notice. Please contact commission4mission if you would be interested in hosting this installation.

Ally Clarke

out there

held

Ally Clarke studied Sculpture and is inclined to create installation works complimented by photography, drawing, collage and print. Enjoying creative collaborations, she has recently worked with a Sculptor / Performance Artist producing film, sculptural and performance works.

Ally views her creative work as a means of investigating the world and engaging with others in the consideration and wonder of it, intending that the work communicate something of the value and uniqueness of us as individuals and stimulate consideration by the viewer of the particular, precious contribution each makes to their world. She presents evocative, personal creations that produce opportunities for reflection and refreshment.

The materials used in her installations are selected largely because of their symbolic nature and their inherent textural composition. Oftentimes the materials are collected from particular people - the forging of new friendships in this process is frequently an important aspect of the work.

Ally has installed a number of 3D works in 'sacred' spaces as an aid to worship and contemplation and loves to create artwork to compliment a particular sermon series or study theme. She has several installations which could be recreated on request in churches and other spaces. See Chosen Stones and Agony for Hope for more information.

Press coverage

Henry Shelton has been featured in this week's edition of his local newspaper, the Ilford Recorder. In the piece Henry tells how he came up with the idea for Commission For Mission and says:

"I enjoy the creative process. I sometimes ask myself why I'm doing it! But I've been blessed. I enjoy the profoundness and mystery of it. If you go to Italy, the churches are full of tourists looking at the art. But you don't really get that here. Often, wonderful art can be found in churches, but people would rather go to galleries. It is important that the link between the Church and art is recognised."

The latest issue of Art & Christianity has been published and includes an exhibition review written by Jonathan Evens plus information about our November Study Day. Jonathan's review is of an installation entitled The Manifestation - Falling Pheobe by Richard Layzell and Tania Koswycz at St Martin's Colchester. An online review by Jonathan of the same installation can be found by clicking here.

Development of a community art installation

We asked workshop participants to create a picture that said something about themselves before nailing that picture to the cross. Some ideas that we suggested included:

• an abstract using favourite colours;
• a collage of favourite things;
• a picture of themselves, families, friends or favourite places;
• an abstract with colours showing how they felt right then; and
• writing about themselves – a description, a poem, a short story.

People used several of these ideas, as well as doing their own thing. The first picture nailed to the cross was actually one straight from the heart describing how the person felt right then and there. Our thought was that on the cross all of what we are, difficult and joyous, is held and embraced by God.

Summer workshop & exhibition

Commission for Mission will be running an art installation workshop at the 'Fun in the Park' event being organised by Holy Trinity Barkingside on Saturday 13th June (11.00am - 4.00pm). As part of this workshop participants will be able to create a small artwork reflecting something of themselves. Each artwork will be nailed to a cross for display as a temporary installation at Holy Trinity following the event.

Commission For Mission will also be exhibiting at All Saints West Ham in June as part of the West Ham Festival. A wide selection of work by our artists will be on show throughout the Festival which runs from 20th - 27th June.