Indwell: a visual pneumatology
In late 2024, I set out to create a body of work inspired by the themes of embodiment as seen through a distinctly Christian lens: what it means to be a human living in a body, what it means to be part of the body of Christ, and even what it meant for Christ to take on flesh. Over the next two years, the work expanded and contracted and took on a Spirit-filled life of its own, eventually crystallizing into a series studying the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
This body of work will be included in a group show at Four Chapter Gallery in September-October 2026, titled Body Forth. Pamela Willhite, a painter and sculptor in Kansas City, MO, and Ellie McGinty, a multi-media artist in St Louis, MO, are also a part of this show, contributing paintings, sculptures, and other works of art wrestling with themes of embodiment and living out our faith in tangible ways.
-
Emmanuel / God has made a home with us.
The infinite creator of the universe, wrapped in infant skin. Giver of all needs, now become need embodied: an embryo, a newborn, a toddler. Mary, full of need herself, given to raise God himself.
There is no human relationship more physically close than that of mother and unborn baby, and this is the closeness God chose with broken humanity.
-
Jehovah Mekkodishkem / My body, broken for you.
Fructose molecules mingle with ethanol and carbon dioxide: the before and after of a transformational process that happens when grapes or wheat meet yeast. All essential elements - carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen - remain, and yet are transfigured into something that has a profoundly different effect on those who encounter it.
Pieces of torn bread - the body of Christ - cover the plate and are taken by hands - also the body of Christ. We come to the table already transformed, to be continually transfigured by the God who was broken and renewed on our behalf.
-
Jehovah Shalom / Pentecost is still happening today.
Peace, beauty, and justice, all rolled into one rich word: Shalom. All is right. All is as it should be. The God who ordered the universe is still working to create order amidst our chaos.
-
YHWH / this body a tent
The tabernacle is where God made a home with man, but it was never meant to be the end all be all.
From the beginning of the Bible to the end, we were set apart for holiness, for connection, for closeness. We are the tabernacle.
-
Jehovah Jirah / the burden of praise
(in progress)
The body of Christ is meant to bear one another’s burdens, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so.
-
Eloi Eloi / bifurcated Christ
(in progress)
When Christ was crucified on the cross, he tore the veil between our broken reality and paradise.