Inky Orchard

My world is currently a web spinning in the intersection of several, several mediums. It’s interesting… because this is SCAD’s “finals week.” Includes a healthy balance of:

1. Somewhat severely adjusted eating and sleeping habits.

2. Inability to put one class to the side and ignore it; a mega project from each class is thrust upon you. And you have to tackle it all at once.

3. Fluctuating amounts of delirium, madness, mood swings, irritibility, fatigue, possibly a little PMS thrown in there – who knows? (Not me, thank you Jesus.)

4. Increased prayers for things like not getting sick, not falling victim to technological malfunctions/disasters, and getting a bite to eat every now and then.

So. Despite those norms… that is hardly the extent of my world right now. Hardly. God has chosen this time to bring me through some sort of radical “trust Me” week. He is wanting me to spend quality time with Him in this stressful period, when my academic impulse is to forgo God time to catch up on sleep. He wants me to pay even closer attention to the way He is working around me and through me. A couple days ago I slept terrible (TERRIBLE). The next night I skipped Bible study with every intention of using that time to finish my work and get a big fat sleep. Well? God had other things in mind. Instead, I got even worse sleep! But this was because God brought me a six-hour hangout, a new friendship, and a sweet moving of the Holy Spirit at 1 AM. Talk about bonding. God is so cool. He works in ways that stretch my physical limitations… and completely break my unwillingness to be stretched. God is moving this week! My world spins with chaos… but He has plans far beyond research paper deadlines and film shoots. He is building His Kingdom. And He is using me. (That’s pretty cool.)

So, back to the media my world is soaking in:

1. Sculpture. My final project for Large-Format involves “sculpting” or assembling still lives that play with dimensionality and textural relationships. By that I mean how certain objects interact and speak to each other through their surfaces and also how flat, two-dimensional planes can merge with those objects given the right construction. Just a taste. I can’t help sharing.

2. Storytelling. My final for Intro to Film is (read: will be) a 5-10 minute piece – story had to be inspired from a newspaper article. Those are the only two requirements. I have absolutely loved fleshing out my idea and watching it come to life at the generosity of others sharing their time, their objects, and themselves. Film is such a collaborative medium. I love how my idea has evolved on set given random wonderful accidents and sudden changes of plan.

3.History. My research paper for my Twentieth Century Art class is focused on the Merzbau created by Kurt Schwitters in the 1920s and 30s. I am completely and totally drawn into his world of personal artistic standards, his methods, and his experimentation and defiance of tradition at the time. This particular investigation I am on has me interested in so many other things. Environmental/Installation art – tugging at my sculptural heartstrings. Collections – why we collect, what it means to collect. I just read a fantastic essay in a book called The Cultures of Collecting (Elsner & Cardinal). I think I want to buy the book and read the entire collection of essays. The book (might actually be considered an anthology…) explores the collecting habits of certain individuals and artists through essays. This particular resource has really helped me connect with Schwitters on a personal level… especially in realizing the significance of his collages being assembled from the rubbish he found in his Hanover streets (post WWI). If you know me, you probably know that I have a similar habit of filling my pockets with the bits and scraps dismissed by strangers. Post-It lists in particular.

Anyway. This is just me saying “Hello, dear world.” I am here. Buried in essays on Merz theory, tapes that need to be digitized and edited, a blanket that calls to me for a nice long sleep, to-do lists up to my eyeballs, and negatives that need to be taken. Yet somehow God is still in the mix… for the first time I can still see Him and I still want to be with Him even in all the most stressful chaos I can imagine. He moves. And I belong to Him. He is my righteousness. I love that He is bringing interesting topics and explorations into my life along with wonderful people. I love how this crazy week is still filled with intimate time spent with those hearts He has connected me with. I love that my world is exploding with other colors, other ways of being – bookmaking, scrap-collecting, environmental designing, sculpting, scavenger-hunting, crazy late night talking, embracing spontaneity for maybe the first time in my life. And letting my soul rest in Him. Doing my best work while not letting the pressures of this world consume me.

Lord, you are so wonderful. Thank you for changing me.