The 2022 worldwide Engage Art Contest has been open for six months now, and we are so inspired by the amazing artwork that has been coming in from all corners of the world. Contestants come from Côte d’Ivoire to Cuba, from Germany to Yemen, and nearly everywhere else—six continent’s worth! The Visual Art Gallery includes a diverse collection of oil paintings, pencil sketches, photographs, mixed media artwork, and sculpture. The Video Arts part of the Gallery is full of short film, performance art, and music videos. 

The Engage Art team had a long, uplifting conversation looking through the artwork entered into the Gallery from August through October. It wasn’t easy to sort through so much wonderful artwork by so many gifted artists, but we are excited to announce our Quarterly Staff Picks, one for Visual Art and one for Video Arts. 

Visual Art—Spirit of the Earth No. 1 by Duenchayphoochana Phooprasert

Visual artist Duenchayphoochana Phooprasert created this evocative abstract sculpture series that our team was drawn back to again and again. 

Hailing from Thailand, Duenchayphoochana works primarily in clay. Her artworks are fairly large—”Spirit of the Earth No. 1” measures roughly 3 feet tall and stretches nearly 5 feet wide—and her aesthetic is contemporary and abstract. 

Notice the intricate textures in her expansive pieces. To create these sculptures, Duenchayphoochana creates a rectangular form, using local soils and clays. She then puts the clay under various stresses that fracture, crumple, and push or bend it, much like geological features are made. The lines, shapes, and dimensions that emerge tell a story about the ways we, too, respond to the stressors around us. Like mountains emerging from earthquakes, our form—spiritual, mental, and physical—might also change as we endure, and ultimately overcome, the challenges we face. We are not broken by this change. Like the structure of the clay, we are built for this. These shifts reveal the true beauty and strength hidden within us that is brought to light through our connection with our Creator.

Duenchayphoochana received her MFA in Painting from Silpakorn University in Bangkok. Her artwork has been exhibited in multiple galleries in Thailand, including the Ratchadamnoen Contemporary Art Center and The National Gallery. 

Video Art—Christian Vs Sin by Lance Tedford

Lance Tedford directed and edited “Christian Vs Sin,” with an unspoken suggestion of David and Goliath or Daniel LaRusso after Mr. Miyagi. Framed as a movie trailer, this short film features an adolescent boy walking down a country road and fighting off the attacks of a menacing older man. The thoughtful cinematography and tight editing provide momentum in a piece that clocks in at a quick 1.5 minutes—not a shot is wasted. The choice to cast an adolescent boy as the “everyman” completely prepared to fight off a threatening older man adds unexpected overtones to the topic of the battle against sin. As martial arts enthusiasts, we also enjoyed the choreography of this boy’s resolute takedown of evil! 

Lance Tedford is based in Kansas, in the US heartland, where he and his sister, Renee, (credited with the Production Design) own LR Photography. Caleb Fisher adds the voiceover, and the choreography is by Reece Tedford and Blake Tedford. 

Lance writes: “This film depicts the daily spiritual battle with sin every Christian fights. As stated in Ephesians 6:10-20, we are in a spiritual war and we are reliant on God to stand firm in our faith and remain faithful and obedient to God.”

Discover More

Well done, Duenchayphoochana and Lance! Although our Picks are not related to the jury’s evaluation of the contestants—the jury will wipe the slate clean at the contest’s close and consider all submissions blind—we want to thank you for sharing your gifts with us. You have each brought us a wonderful new perspective on the spiritual battle. 

While we chose these two works to feature here, you can see more of the art we considered in the “Highlights” collection on our home page and in our Gallery. We also want to draw your attention to these other pieces entered into the Engage Art Contest this past quarter:

• Kellianne Land’s painting The Battles Won: Shield of Faith
• Ivan Kanchev’s sculpture “Jacob’s Struggle With The Angel”, 2019
• Victor Luck’s series Optimism: Our Internal Strength
• William Bonilla’s digital artwork  Oración (Prayer)
• Stephen Thomas’s music video Stand Up

You can explore these artworks and many others in  the 2022 Engage Art Gallery. In addition to viewing the artworks, you can learn more about the artists who created them. You can also show your appreciation of your favorites by upvoting them. These upvotes have no bearing on the official contest results, but they are a wonderful way to affirm artists and give them additional visibility. We'll be sharing Upvote favorites periodically on our home page, across our social media channels, and in our App.

Are you an artist? The 2022 Engage Art Contest is open for submissions until April 14, 2022, midnight ET. Artists from anywhere in the world can submit original video and visual artwork on the topic of the Spiritual Battle as described in Ephesians 6:10-10 and related verses. All artwork will be juried by arts experts, and $60,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to the winners. Visit engageart.org/contest to learn more. 

We hope you take time today to Engage Culture, Engage Scripture, and Engage Art!