“When You Think of Joy. . .”
After making Eve and Abel, I was stuck. Stuck in grief and sadness, and also worried about my upcoming capstone. The colors and theme of Eve and Abel were just so different, I couldn't’ imagine what to pair it with, what it could stand against.
Eventually I decided I needed to break out of the grief. I had 3 ½” x 5” pieces of wood, 4 of them. And I wanted to paint them, but I wasn't sure what. So I asked three people “When you think of joy and the bible what do you think of?” And I got three answers: The baptism of Jesus, The visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, and the women fleeing from the tomb. I decided to add my moment of joy, the Song of Simeon, to the mix, and that’s what I painted.
I had few rules for the paintings though, I knew that having challenges and parameters could sometimes foster more creativity. So while I looked at references, I decided I wouldn't’ draw anything out beforehand, and that I would only use two brushes: one for paint and one for glue (for glitter purposes).
And I started painting.
While I display the paintings in order of the stories, I painted them in this order: The Baptism of Jesus, The Visitation, The Women Flee, and The Song of Simeon. Together these four make up my “When You Think of Joy. . .” Series.
Each painting only took about an hour to make in my senior studio space. Despite the room having no windows, in this project I grew to love it. WIth my music blasting, the vents open, and my desk covered in glitter, I dipped my brush in fluorescent paints and let it fly!
It was healing to paint these, and even if I couldn’t heal everything, they helped.
To finish I wanted to share why I chose the Song of Simeon for my moment of joy:
The church I go to while at Mount Holyoke, All Saints Episcopal, prays compline each week Monday-Friday over zoom. The group is made up of women all older than me, who come from different careers, ages, and even places! I’ve always loved Compline, and have even collected different versions and written a few of my own. Yet the one in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer is my home and my favorite. I can’t pray complain every night, and oftentimes my exhaustion makes me just sit and listen, but I do try to join in at the end for the recitation of the Song of Simeon.
The Song of Simeon is found in the second chapter of Luke, verses 29-32. It is sung by Simeon, who has been promised by God that he will not die until he sees the Messiah, upon meeting the baby Jesus. In the book of common prayer, It reads:
Lord, you now have set your servant free *
to go in peace as you have promised;For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:A Light to enlighten the nations, *
and the glory of your people Israel.
The phrasing of “set your servant free to go in peace” has always comforted me, as has its place at the end of compline. It also makes me wonder today, what gifts am I holding onto? What purpose from God is set for me? And while paintings depict Simeon in the dark singing over a glowing Jesus, I wanted the light to come from both of them.
This is a moment of comfort after a long life. It is a moment where light shines through, as are all the moments in this series. And I hold onto hope that this light will shine on through me and my work. I hope after this long time the world will be a gentle place, and that we can all have the grace of comfort. I hope, like Simeon, that I can go in peace.
In peace,
Xi
