Story

Friday, 29 January 2010

I talk with my students a lot about “mark making” - the process of putting down intuitive, aggressive, confident, strokes of charcoal or paint or ink without worrying about concept or content. We chat about how the more marks we make, the more personal they become. Somehow, the more we practice creating in freedom from self-consciousness or the pressure to make sense, the more the marks become authentic expressions of our voice as artists.

Mark making isn’t so much about making pictures, it’s about touch. The visceral, physical hand to paper moment that connects mind, and sight and spirit. The magic of putting your own heart, and story, and even your image into the work.

That foundational act of mark making is what captured my imagination as I created the images for the Story series for Imago Dei. That before anything, before the story even begins – is God. I didn't simply want to retell the story through the standard images, but to try and reflect God’s own creative process through my own, while still creating a subtle echo of some familiar symbols for each of the five themes - Creation, Covenant, Christ, New Creation, and Kingdom.