Demon Slayer

Demon - Slayer

This artwork is about a time in my life, at the beginning of my relationship with Christ. I would have nightmares of demons and once saw one outside my door. As you can imagine this was terrifying. A friend of mine suggested I pray Psalms 91. And I'm telling you, the fear I had led me to open my Bible and reading that Psalm every night before bed. Looking back now I see that God used what was meant for my harm-for good. It led me to start reading the Bible and seeing the power of God within it. Psalm 91 gave me freedom from the fear of demons, making me realise that God can fight for me. That I have authority over demons and that's all because of Jesus leading me to believe what is written in that prayer. Therefore, allowing me to experience a miracle of now walking in a place of fearlessness towards them through prayer and rebuking in the name of Jesus.

It is also an artwork that reminded me of David's story. How so often we hear about how he slays Goliath but don't know what happened before that or what happened after. I feel this artwork embodies the faith he had in God in his time in the wilderness as he was running away from the very King he helped - Saul whose soldiers were too afraid to kill Goliath. David didn't win the battle with Goliath because he was stronger or because he had armor. He won the battle because of his faith in God which encourages me. I have used half a dress to symbolizes the veil in the tabernacle being torn in two. The other half of this veil is seen in the artwork Endurance: The Harvest is in the Storm.

In this work I chose to depict a bow and arrow as my weapon of choice - which is also a sword. I have clothed myself in the belt of truth and body armor which Paul explains in Ephesians 6 verses 12-14 where he states:

" For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness." (Ephesians 6:12-14 NLT)

The Modern Tabernacle

Artist’s Statement

Because my body is a temple, "it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing."

Galatians 2 vs 20-21

The encompassing of this scripture in my life is currently moving and has moved me into depths I could have never imagined for myself. This series of artworks is about my experience as a follower of Christ. The grappling to understand and to seek him in a relationship and not religion. This scripture by my favorite Apostle Paul, constantly reminds me that God chose to die for me and live in me even while I was still a sinner. That my body has now become a temple where his spirit dwells and teaches and loves in and through me. In the Old Testament, the Tabernacle (Exodus 25) during the time of Moses was a temple where God's spirit rested and ruled. It was a place of worship. It was treated with honor, respect, and reverence. Now in the New Testament, His presence left the Tabernacle/Temple and now He resides in me. And as the chosen dwelling of the Lord, He calls me to value, respect, and honor myself. This is something I'm learning in the journey with him. I have not yet attained it but I am recognizing that it is a process of unlearning all the self-judgment and criticism I indulge in. In the journey of my life, I picked up certain things along the way. I was taught that self-love was a form of vanity. That to find any worth or value I needed to be valuable by what I do and what I have to show. This entailed being good at something or performing my identity in ways, pleased people. So, people-pleasing became a part of my identity.

 When I began my walk with Christ, learning that I was loved fully and that there was nothing I did or could do to deserve it - became a struggle for me. I was a performance-based Christian and that's not the kind of relationship Christ was calling me into. And so, He is helping me slowly unlearn being approved, loved, or acknowledged for how I perform but rather start learning how I am valuable to him just because I simply am. In all the artworks I use 3 colours. Red, Purple and Blue. These 3 colours symbolize the veil of the temple. This veil, described first and most fully in descriptions of the tabernacle, was made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen. Generally, this veil separated the holy place from the holy of holies. This place (the holy of holies) was thought to be a replica of heaven in the tabernacle. Hebrews 10:20 tells us that this veil typifies Christ’s body. When His body was offered on the cross, the veil in the temple tore from top to bottom. The veil being torn in two speaks of the body of Jesus Christ being broken on our behalf to make access to Him possible. It means that the barrier between us and him has been removed.