(Feb – May 2018)
To the End of the Age, 2018. Sculptural installation, cca 40 x 60 cm.
Displayed in the MBIT chapel in May 2018; during Cambridge Open Studios private exhibition in July 2018; commissioned and displayed in MBIT chapel again from Oct 2018 to Oct 2019. Presented by a research poster at The Twelve students conference in Chelmsford in July 2018 and then during Silver Jubilee presentation in October 2018; published in Ways of Thinking (2020) by Anglia Ruskin University, School of Arts.
This work represents an attempt to visually depict the promise of the permanent presence of Christ after His ascension. The whole quotation from Mathew's gospel reads: "I will stay with you to the end of the age". In the creative process, my main concern was how to show the invisible. How to depict a presence which I cannot recognise by my senses? Inspired by footprints left in the sand when a person departs, I decided to make a "body print" - the evidence left on the earth which does not disappear and can be found in words, deeds and the influence of the (now invisible) person.
The plaster cast of a real human body shows both presence and absence. Similarly, the plastic part of the same shape mirrors the departed person imprinted in time in another person's memories and can be called back to the presence. This is represented by the little "mirrors" reflecting a viewer because we remember others only by our own experiences. So, the viewer sees his/her face while looking at the artwork. However, the memories are not only called back but also "remade" and developed over time.
Theology is not a task reserved for clergy or academics, but it is a lived reality of all Church members. Although there is a distinction between consecrated people called to a particular sacramental service, others are not excluded from the life and development of the Body of Christ. So, when the community gathers to worship or to study, the whole congregation is equal. All are invited to a personal dialogue with God. The artwork To the End of the Age highlights this invitation by creating a "void" reflecting its surroundings and the viewers. When people watch the installation, they see parts of themselves reflected; the empty space after ascendent Jesus Christ is their place now. They are invited not only to lead a dialogue with Christ in an inner meditation but also to assume responsibility for further developing the Body of Christ. The place offered to them is an invitation to become Christ, and it is personal and universal.