Everlasting Joy
Sculpture: willow, organza, metal, plastic, 200 x 100 x 100cm, 2021.
Drawing: pen on paper, A4, 2021.
The sculpture incorporates fabric and willow. Fabric is a tactile, sensitive material used to cover the body at birth and at death, wrapping us at our most vulnerable times. In the Bible Psalm 137 describes the Ancient Israelites weeping and their inability to sing, which causes them to hang their harps on the willow bushes.
Willow symbolises loss, and the hope of future retrieval: we remember God’s promises to turn our weeping into joy. Willow also references the baskets at the feeding of the five thousand, where there is an abundance of food for everyone. We are like baskets, with wondrous treasures waiting to be poured out in blessing upon the world.