EVERYDAY DRESS

Artist Statement:
The Reconstruction of the Four Gospels

I am a Christian. I am also an artist. I believe in expressing and practicing my faith, both in how I live and through the work I create. I made the coat you see in the image I submitted for the Engage Art Contest out of New Testament Gospel Book pages. To make the coat, I first took apart an old family Bible. Then, I removed the binding from the pages and sewed them into one large sheet. After that, I refashioned the singular page into a garment. I made sure every little piece was included. The result, a coat, is small enough to fit a child. It stands upright without support in spite of the fact that it was fragmented and patched in the process of being created. Some may view this work as a craft or an artifact rather than a serious work of art. But when I look at it, I am reminded that like a raincoat in bad weather, God's Word and Presence can strengthen and uphold me to stand strong through the worst of storms. As a tactile visual reminder of my intimate connection and relationship with the divine, I value this piece for both its poetic and symbolic expression of my spiritual experience.

When I first began preparing for the contest, I read Ray Stedman’s book Spiritual Warfare. While considering his interpretation of what it means to stand, as stated in Ephesians 6:10-20, I saw in my mind's eye, a soldier whose entire diet consisted of junk food. The image startled me, and I realized how significant the appropriation of the Word of God is in the context of living a life of faith. Through further contemplation of the passage, I recognized the second key aspect of surviving a Spiritual Battle depends on the protective gear that is worn. The fact is, military personnel rarely provide for their own safety. In a spiritual sense, this situation applies also to soldiers of the cross. Christ provides protection.In fact He alone is our defence.

Because of the strong image of a soldiers' diet I had at first, I was tempted to depict contrasting images related to healthy and unhealthy diets in my Engage Art Contest submission response based on Ephesians 6: 10-20 My continued discomfort with the idea, however, kept me from going in that direction. Instead, I have chosen the EVERYDAY DRESS as my submission, which I feel much more succinctly describes the sense of commitment and surrender that comes with daily putting on the necessary garb of humility and trust involved in the act of laying down one's life to serve others in the trenches.

Linda Rempel

Original work: $1500.00
3-D Fibre Art. Mixed Media Sculpture

I am available to assist organizations and small groups to design and implement Meditative Visual art related tactile/hands on workshops, learning experiences, and prayer retreats for the purpose of spiritual development and healing

Will also consider commissions upon request