Artwork with symbolism

This is an artwork I made for CafeKirken in Copenhagen. I am a Christian person myself so it was a special artwork for me to make. It has connected two worlds for me and has inspired me to research how to connect those two aspects (art and Christianity) of my life with each other.

I think it’s important to receive God’s thoughts in different ways and with different senses. We hear words with our ears, but this artwork is something we see with our eyes.

I gave this piece a meaning, which I’ll explain in a moment. But you are very welcome to add your own thoughts and feelings to it. You’ll probably discover something else in it too.

When we spoke with Cafekirke, they asked if we could make an anointing flask. They hoped I could blow it with the old stained glass from the church. Sadly, that wasn’t possible because of technical reasons.

I didn’t know much about anointing, so I started reading about it. I found out that anointing is a beautiful picture of the Holy Spirit living in us.

With that in mind I blew the anointing flask from new glass, but I still wanted to include the old stained glass window in the piece. The broken and colorful glass pieces in different shapes represent us. We are all different, and we don’t always fit perfectly. But in God’s light we can come together. We can shine His light in this world. I imagined light shining down from heaven, though the colorful pieces unto the flask.

While I was making it, thought this rock is like the world: full of bumps, but with the hope Jesus gives, it becomes smoother. In the middle of this hopeful world, I placed the oil flask. For me it represents the Holy Spirit in our world.

I placed it behind the glass pieces that represent us as a church. And because we cannot anoint ourselves, we need each other.

I hope this piece will remind us that even in our brokenness, we can reflect something beautiful together.