March 24 - May 16, 2008
The Seminary Celebrates 2008:
Works by Students, Staff, and Faculty
an Exhibition in Honor of Constance Sherridan Hefner

Curator’s Statement

As the Spring semester draws to a close, Wesley Theological Seminary celebrates the arts with an exhibition drawn from the life of our own community. Whether the artwork was made by  the Dean, first-year students, graduates, long-time staff members, or Artists-in-Residence, it speaks to the way art has become a conversation partner in the theological conversation.

This year, as was true in previous years, The Seminary Celebrates is made possible by generous endowment in memory of Constance Sherridan Hefner. Constance was the only daughter of Jean and Tom Hefner, who were members of the Council for the Arts and Religion in the 1990s, and who continue to be gracious supporters of the arts and the seminary.  The portrait of Constance was painted Glen Hill, who well known in the local art community.

We are grateful to the Hefners, and to these eighteen artists whose works illuminate our common life.

Deborah Sokolove
Curator, Dadian Gallery

List of Works

Bruce Birch, faculty
Butterflies in Flame, photograph
I wanted to capture the brightness of color in the full sunlight almost as if the butterflies were drawn to a flame. There is almost more movement in the color of the flower than in the butterflies that are in repose.
Iona Abbey, photograph
I hoped to capture both the interplay of light and shadow and the unusual juxtaposition of textures between stonework and carvings.
 

Mitchell Bond, staff
Angel, fused glass, photo transfer, wire, beads
The design elements in the glass are from St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church – carved angel sculpture and detail from a stained glass window.
Pentecost Processional Cross, stained glass, fused glass, wood
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord calls to him.”  Acts 2:38-39
 

Carolyn Gass, student
Let There be Light, watercolor
The assignment was to create an art piece using scripture as our inspiration. I chose “let there be light,” Genesis 1:3. As a former blind person this verse has double meaning for me. It reminds me of God’s good gift of physical sight and it reminds me that God is slowing revealing God’s self to me as I proceed on my spiritual journey. This piece symbolizes both the physical and spiritual sight/light God has granted me as well as the prayer that I will be able to reflect some of God’s light back into the world.
Shrine to St. Lucy, egg tempera, acrylic and found objects
The assignment was to create an art piece to be used in either public or private worship. My “Shrine to St. Lucy” is a private piece intended to help me remember to say thank you to God for giving me the miracle of sight. St. Lucy is the patron saint of blind individuals. Before the miracles of 3 corneal transplants, I was blind. The items in and on the shrine are all part of the flotsam of my transitioning from blind to sighted.
 

Jean K. Dudek, student
Vines of New Life (with “God is Love” in Greek), fabric
I used to be a patent lawyer. Now I’m a theology student. This skirt is from one of the suits (my “law suits,” as I called them) that I used to wear then. It is embroidered with entwining vines, the green growth of new life. Emerging from the tangle are the Greek words for “God is Love,” which is the first sentence that I translated from Greek, in the first class I took at Wesley. (Thanks, Claudia!)
 

Carol Follett, student
Joan, oil
Joan represents a young Joan of Arc at a moment of discernment and decision. Part of the inspiration was a church youth who conveyed a sense of reticence and capacity for resolve. The clothes were found in a dash through the annual church rummage sale.
 

Charles D. Fowler, graduate
African Methodist Episcopal Church Emblem and Founder (1^st Bishop) Richard Allen,
tooled leather (dyed, painted, stained) mounted on wood
The work is the result of leather crafting skills taught to me by a fellow junior high school teacher thirty-seven years ago and not used much since then. The inspiration, spiritually, is my love for and spiritual journey in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The leather emblem of the AME Church and our founder and first bishop, Richard Allen, are depicted with tooling, dyes, paints and stains, all acquired only for the class assignment/commitment. God blessed me to still have the skills in my hands.
 

Louis J. Hutchinson III, student
Who is Worthy? (Psalm 24), mixed media
Who is Worthy of experiencing the Manifestation of God’s presence? Are those that embrace great tribulation for a stranger worthy? Are those that lament about devastation, sickness, pain and oppression worthy? Are those with imprisoned minds worthy? Is the Capitalist worthy? Is the Church worthy without acknowledgment of the Cross as its absolute foundation? Who is worthy?
 

Ann Laird Jones, student
Trinity: Variations on Form, Function and Substance, glazed, fired porcelain
I chose porcelain clay because of its unusual properties: strength, beauty, clarity, delicacy. I threw these pots in a community pottery studio we created from nothing in a church. The pots were fired in a kiln surrounded by masterpieces made by juvenile offenders who come regularly to the pottery. Pots are greatly affected, and enhanced, by other pieces in the kiln. The glazes are recipes I chose, and mixed. The same glazes were used on each pot, but different manifestations: the three pots are related, but different. They are empty vessels waiting to be addressed, touched, used, but yet each stands complete, on its own. They speak to me of Trinity: Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer.
 

Hung Su Lim, student
Psalm 51, acrylic
This artwork was used in my communication presentation of Psalms class. It is based on my exegesis paper on Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is classified as a prayer for help or an individual lament. The psalmist is suffering not only by heavy pressure of sinfulness by also the relationship with God.  So, I’m trying to represent the suffering and pressure of sinfulness on the left side. However, the psalmist appeals to God’s character using three key Hebrew words: mercy, steadfast love, and compassion. The center of this paining is like God’s absorbing sinfulness and restoring the relationship with the psalmist. The hyssop on the left is used as a means of purifying. It’s life transformation from sinfulness to the intimate relationship between God and the Psalmist.
 

Janet Strain McDonald, student
Temptation?: rattlesnake dessert plate, salt-fired porcelain with underglaze stain
Entering the Arts and Theology DMin track at Wesley in January 2006 inspired a creative break-away for me. The sharp minds, creative energy and faith-filled good humor of my Wesley classmates offered a community of support as I finally began to create my own artwork. Biblical faith, a bit of humor, and the inspiration of working with a new and challenging medium – that’s the genesis of Temptation?
Visitation, gesso and commercial tempera on home-grown, hand-hewn poplar, suede hinges
Axe, wedge and fallen poplar on our land began my icon project. I sat on a stump and chiseled (for weeks) a smooth enough plane for painting; it was very good prayer time. The slight natural swell of the right hand panel led to my choice of subject matter: Mary and Elizabeth’s joyful reunion and blessed motherhood. While traditional icons of the Visitation do not reveal Elizabeth’s pregnancy, my icon is non-traditional, inspired by grain of wood and nature.
 

Vikki Montgomery, student
Untitled, mixed media
At the start of the 2007 school year, thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns in Burma (also known as Myanmar) marched to protest the continued house arrest after 12 years of Burmese democracy activist and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other abuses by the military dictatorship in power. Pictures were transmitted all over the world as it cracked down on the protestors of the so-called Saffron Revolution. (Saffron—a yellowish color and one worn by monks in other parts of Asia—is a misnomer since the Burmese monks wear reddish robes, but the name stuck.)  These pictures, appearing in newspapers and magazines day after day, struck me, especially as the government became increasingly violent in its response against the unarmed monks. As attention on the monks was waning, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, also a Buddhist, was honored by the United States government with a Congressional Gold Medal. I thought it was ironic that while our government was (rightly) honoring the Dalai Lama, its response to the situation in Burma was merely to tighten economic sanctions. What made the situation particularly poignant was that one of the Burmese students at Georgetown University, where I serve as a chaplain-in-residence, organized a candlelight vigil and held talks to educate us about what was happening in Burma. Although an American resident, she was not able to use her real name in published stories about her activities for fear she would not be allowed in the country to visit friends and relatives.  The young monk to the left of the Dalai Lama in the collage is a Georgetown student who became a monk in solidarity with the monks back home. He was unable to contact his family during this time.
 

Robert Peppers, Artist-in-Residence
Natural Mystic, composite, rubbing, wax crayon on black paper
“Natural Mystic” is a tribute to Bob Marley’s music. The composite work is a hand manipulated image developed with multiple brass rubbings from the St. Martin-in-the-Field Church in London, England. It began as a meditation piece with a triangle drawn on black paper. Then, consecutive rubbings were added in order to reveal the triangle shape. Coincidentally, the triangle pre-dates the cross as a popular symbol of faith.
    Ultimately, the configuration of the rubbings formed a Mystic figure. It consists of the “Eye of Providence” combined with an Evangelist floating on the shadow of a dove which indicates divine inspiration.
 

Michael Relland, student
Chalice Series: I, II, III, IV, sumie ink on rice paper
Treatment of naturalist subjects often found in Asian sumie work, but each in series represented through the figure of a chalice, symbol of my Unitarian Universalist faith tradition – the subjects in the series consist of simple brushstrokes and depict: i) pagoda; ii) flower; iii) mountain; iv) Noah’s Ark/rainbow.
 

Richard Rogers, student
Surrender, oil
I used to paint years ago. My paints/brushes have been in the garage. But I had to do a project for Holy Art in DC last semester (Fall ’07). So I pulled out the oils! I enjoyed doing the project and I think I’ll do some more painting soon. This is the image I picture when I think of myself surrendering my heart before God…kneeling with up-lifted hands. The white rays coming down is God’s glory, presence…rays of light is what I imagine when I think God’s presence coming down from the heavens. God honors those who are surrendered in their hearts with God’s presence.
 

Christopher James Schafer, student
The Embrace, pvc pipe
Initially inspired by a photo of branches outside Straughn Dormitory, this piece evolved to represent man and woman embracing as they are cast from the Garden in Genesis 3:23. The use of such a unique medium was partially a personal commitment exploring different mediums; and partially the easiest medium to use that closely resembled the photo of the branches. By connecting the piece to this moment in our scriptural history, the partially abstract forms focus on that which is not mentioned in the scriptural account, the emotions of love and fear as they are cast  from the garden.
 

Karen Schiff, Artist-in-Residence
Unfathomable (triptych), acrylic
Time; space; the sensory immediacy of the material world; the experience of being human/mortal; the Holocaust (or any immense trauma/disaster).  At different times, I have thought about all of these themes in relation to these paintings.  And all of them are, at root, unfathomable.  Abstract art, too, is often thought of as impenetrable.  But I believe that art -- at its best -- can come closer to expressing the inexpressible.
 

Drew Sutton, student
All Saints Day, video
The All Saints Day was created in conjunction with the All Saints Day Prayer Vigil held here at Wesley Theological Seminary.  The video documents the acts of remembrance as the students, faculty and administration came together with the community to remember the soldiers who have paid the price for war.  During the Prayer Vigil we remembered all the people around the world who have given their lives at the cost of war.  We hope that the visual representation of the lives lost will help us unite in realizing war is not going to solve our problems.
Tithing, video
Tithing illustrates the discipline needed to begin to understand the importance of tithing
Water Prayer, video
Water Prayer a simple illustration of the beauty of God’s creation and how easy it is to pass it by.

Donna M. Thompson, student
The Song of Deborah, oil on canvas
The painting depicts Deborah (prophetess, judge and military leader) of Judges 4 and 5 as a black woman. After defeating Sisera and his army, Deborah sang a song of praise, the painting depicts Deborah in the act of praise (Judges 5).
Bless You, wood blessing cross with oil icon
I created this work as a class assignment for Historical Theology in Ethiopian and Russian Iconography. The cross contains a double blessing, in that the cross itself is used as an instrument of blessing and the hand gesture of the icon represents a blessing also.