The first entry turned in for the Artists Work B.e.n.c.h. Psalms project is Psalm 125 by Christie Jenkins.
It is taken from the first 2 verses of the psalm:
They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
What intrigued me most about this Psalm was the interesting juxtaposition of how mountains are used. In the first verse, people who trust in God are compared to Mt. Zion because of its stability and endurance. In the second verse, God Himself is compared to mountains because of His protection,” Jenkins said. “So, we are like a mountain, and God is like a mountain. By following Jesus, we are supposed to be more like Him every day, taking on His character, so it’s only appropriate that we can share a metaphor.”
Jenkins chose to represent the believer using a vine with branches, another metaphor, this time from the New Testament, representing the relationship between the believer and God. An
up-close viewing of the picture yields a surprise. The fruit that the branches produce bears a striking resemblance to something familiar (scroll down to see). “I made the mountain that the vine is on a lot smaller than the mountains surrounding it in the background because when I looked at pictures of Mt. Zion, it was pretty puny compared to the mountains we know and love in San Bernardino. I just figured that even though the Psalm compares people who trust in God to Mt. Zion, God is always going to be exhaustively larger than we could ever hope or envision.”
The painting is a mixed-media acrylic on canvas, with fabric, cotton yarn, and salt dough.
Psalm 125 by Christie Jenkins © 2009
Details of the vine, branches, and fruit.
Detail of the branches, fruit, and light
Detail of representation of Mt. Zion
Submission of art to the Psalms Project is both easy and casual. Once you have a piece you’d like
to submit, e-mail Todd at epistrophy@aol.com. “Submitted” artwork is simply photographed, recorded, videoed, etc. The actual artwork stays with the creator/owner and is not warehoused by Artists Work B.e.n.c.h.
To see January’s Psalms Project page, which has links to other interpretations of the Psalms (but none by people in the Inland Empire), click here.
3 comments:
no ofence, but im not sure i like this painting. but im inspired to work on my own idea for another psalm.
I think the faces in the fruit are cool. Interesting way to think about our fruit as Christians.
Wow, I love the symbolism of the vine rising from Mount Zion, and the little faces in different colors representing all of Christ's children. What a unique and wonderful expression!!!!
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