The image below is not an easy image to look at is it? It was taken on the street in India...in broad daylight and in plain sight. This is was one of the images used as a catalyst for me as an artist to take make the journey of publishing this blog. The title "the art of intercession" captures my desire to make visibly audible my prayers for the people and places that God has put on my heart....
C2008 MKC photo
One of my art responses to the photo reveals that this scenario is not isolated incident...it is real, and it is happening in not just India. Abuse turns a child's worlds upside down, it distorts the truth. When confronted with such realities we can not longer dismiss the the truth of abuse, or the notion of human trafficking...
C2008 MKC Collage digitally printed on chiffon.
Art has become my form of advocacy... it empowers me to take what may be "true" about a given situation.
Art has become my form of advocacy... it empowers me to take what may be "true" about a given situation.
Statistics on matters of abuse, human trafficking, the AIDS epidemic are readily found online...but one has to wonder was does God have to say about such things?
Some might ask even where He is...does He even care???
...and if He cares....then why doesn't He do something???
That is how I started my journey to make art that has a voice...... like many others before me... I too have asked him...."if you had been here this would not have happened."
My blog is my personal journey to those answers...and my art is my response to what I discovered.
MKC - (images below are) ceramic hands, hands ...hand painted and hand beaded canvas, hand made book photos and narrative printed on card stock. (Front of book cover below)
The images seen above and below are images of the my handmade book response to what I saw in India. I love India...I love people from India....India assaults your senses when you visit it...it is alive with color and smells and people...lots of people! Sadly however, India is also know for human trafficking.
The images seen above and below are images of the my handmade book response to what I saw in India. I love India...I love people from India....India assaults your senses when you visit it...it is alive with color and smells and people...lots of people! Sadly however, India is also know for human trafficking.The statistics on human trafficking in India are staggering Just check out this fact on Google or on the CIA world fact book. (http://www.worldfactbook.com/)
The process of how I made this work came from my reaction and my quiet time of contemplation about what I had seen. The result is a hand made book.
You will notice that there are three sets of hands depicted.
The first are white hands which are made of ceramic,
The second set of hands are hand painted and hand beaded painted on canvas. (the front side of the double side painted canvas is shown above while the henna color
is shown below)
The third is a photo of a young girl holding the hand of another young child taken while in India in 2008.
The purpose is place the woman and children who are often the weak victims of these statistics into context and if only in my private prayers into God's unseen hands.
Close up of reverse of book cover, hand painted and hand beaded on canvas, images and narrative printed on card stock and ceramic hands that cradle the book.
So if you found your way to this blog or perhaps you were encouraged to visit it... I want to say Thank you for reading this far...I invite you to continue to become a follower with me on this journey!
Back Story #1 INDIA - Second Caste Citizen
The image was taken in India while I was leading a college study tour to one of the premier global apparel production portals. Something caught my attention when I heard what appeared to be the sound of someone clearly being summoned. Instinctively, I switched on my camera as the rush of small child whizzed past my peripheral vision.
For propriety sake, I have "edited" a portion of my photo so that it is a bit less graphic from the original. As you begin to study the image, I believe you will be struck by the intensity of the scenario as well as be able to discern what part of the image was modified on the older boy.
Inspiration for the blog.....
As you can see from the images above, my thesis is; that fine art can be a form of advocacy.
According to the dictionary: "Advocacy is the practice of supporting someone to make their voice hear."
While the term Intercession can imply the notion of speaking or pleading a case on behalf of someone else.... and in this case...it was my prayers or cry for intervention on behalf of both of the two young boys I photographed in India.
Clearly one can see the inspiration for the blogs title: The-Art-of-Intercession.
I have always been curious about the writings of a man named Habakkuk. According to this ancient text, he was instructed to "Stand his watch to SEE what God would have to say to him..." (this loosely translate that God expected Habakkuk to pray about the injustice and sins of his generation)
The text goes on to encourage Habakkuk to make a visible sign about what he heard was God's heart or response to what he saw was happening. God's response was he instructed Habakkuk to go and make the sign large enough for anyone passing by, to easily be able to read it what it said.
The text goes on to encourage Habakkuk to make a visible sign about what he heard was God's heart or response to what he saw was happening. God's response was he instructed Habakkuk to go and make the sign large enough for anyone passing by, to easily be able to read it what it said.
While this may seem to us living in the 21st century as some form of billboard advertising ...my interpretation I wondered how would God speak to someone today....how might he instruct them? I suppose He might suggest writing or making art, however I feel the most obvious would be both and the application would be the Internet.
Needless to say that this blog is about using all 3! It is about sharing my story and response to what I SAW and what I HEAR.
Needless to say that this blog is about using all 3! It is about sharing my story and response to what I SAW and what I HEAR.
It is my journey of asking questions, seeking answers and attempting to listen as well I follow in that Habakkuk's footsteps.
It is about my journey of listening for God's heart on matters of injustice and then it is about my humble attempt through art and journaling what I have discovered. It is my attempt to visible and easy to "read" for anyone passing by this site.
So if you found your way to this blog or perhaps you were encouraged to visit it... I want to say Thank you for reading this far...I invite you to continue to become a follower with me on this journey!
THE STORY BEGINS......Below is the narrative behind the original photo.....
Back Story #1 INDIA - Second Caste Citizen
The image was taken in India while I was leading a college study tour to one of the premier global apparel production portals. Something caught my attention when I heard what appeared to be the sound of someone clearly being summoned. Instinctively, I switched on my camera as the rush of small child whizzed past my peripheral vision.
For propriety sake, I have "edited" a portion of my photo so that it is a bit less graphic from the original. As you begin to study the image, I believe you will be struck by the intensity of the scenario as well as be able to discern what part of the image was modified on the older boy.
I believe there is a striking similarity to the color palette of Francis Bacon's image: The study after Velasquez "Portrait of Pope Innocent X" (if you are unfamiliar with this painting I have included here the link to view the image in comparison to my photo.) www.artquotes.net/masters/bacon/paint_study.htm
What you should have noticed in the photo, is the small child no more than 3 or 4 years old prostrate at the feet of an older boy. The older boy who was probably only about 14 or 15yrs. old.
What you should have noticed in the photo, is the small child no more than 3 or 4 years old prostrate at the feet of an older boy. The older boy who was probably only about 14 or 15yrs. old.
Like Bacon's painting, my photo freezes in time the silent scream of both victims...the abused older boy who became the abuse
r.
r. The photo is haunting tale of the vicious cycle for life of much of India's poor. I entitled my photo: "Second Caste Citizen."
It was from this image that I felt the tug of God's heart for these lives. Lives that seemed to hopelessly trapped in a cycle of pain and shame. I believe if you listen you will hear the silent whimpers of shame, as well as the silent scream for a deliverer.
That day I felt helpless too, especially as I was pulled back into another reality... as I too was being beckoned....this time back to my group. I found myself sobbing as I left the scene of these two young boys. Internally I was attempting to reconcile what I saw, while I was silently calling out for God's intervention.It would be later that day that I would find myself being encouraged by the power of God's hand of intervention, not in this scenario...but another that was played out in a different but strikingly similar scenario, only this time I was witness to God's immediate intervention.
It was from this image that I felt the tug of God's heart for these lives. Lives that seemed to hopelessly trapped in a cycle of pain and shame. I believe if you listen you will hear the silent whimpers of shame, as well as the silent scream for a deliverer.
That day I felt helpless too, especially as I was pulled back into another reality... as I too was being beckoned....this time back to my group. I found myself sobbing as I left the scene of these two young boys. Internally I was attempting to reconcile what I saw, while I was silently calling out for God's intervention.It would be later that day that I would find myself being encouraged by the power of God's hand of intervention, not in this scenario...but another that was played out in a different but strikingly similar scenario, only this time I was witness to God's immediate intervention.
I knew that no matter how disconcerting both events were....there was a reason that I was privy to them.... and the is a reason why you are privy too...
PLEASE consider this my personal invitation for you to become a follower of this blog... there is a function at the top of this blog for you to join...
I can be reached at: MKathleenColussy@aol.com I welcome your feedback, please write the words ART BLOG in the subject heading of your email to ensure a quicker response. Thanks!
To view more of my actual art permit me to direct you to:
More art and more postings...next week...till then...
Blessings,
Kathleen
