Vessels: For Glory and Good Use
Cross for Downtown Hope
What if the cross were not merely a distant symbol, viewed through the canon of history, but a living reality—one we are called to bear together in the world around us? This piece invites us into contemplation of Christ’s sacrificial love and our participation in His death and resurrection. Through the blood of Jesus, we are joined to Him—our sinful selves crucified, our lives raised anew in His resurrection.
Like the six porcelain bowls that form this cross, we too are vessels—formed by the Potter’s hand for glory and good use. We too are called to bear witness: to live cruciform lives, to make visible what is otherwise unseen. We are not passive observers of the cross, but living participants in its ongoing reality. The cross of Christ is to be displayed to the world as it is made manifest through our lives—revealing the unseen through the shape of our witness.
Let this piece be a call to live lives shaped by the cross, to display its truth in the world, and to be vessels of grace—even as we wait eagerly for resurrection of our bodies and the restoration of all things.
Artist Statement
At the voice of God, all of creation was called into being. At His word, light pierced the void and the cosmos unfolded in order, power, and beauty. He is Elohim—the Creator God, Mighty One, Sovereign over all creation. The weight of the universe rests in the palm of His hand…
And yet, it was these same hands that gathered up and formed man out of the dust. As a potter forms and shapes his clay, the God of the cosmos breathes life into mankind—a people formed by the Creator as vessels for His glory. And it was these same hands, which hold the universe, that shape us into form, that were pierced for our redemption. The magnificent, omnipotent Creator God stoops low and draws near to shape, redeem, and dwell with His people.
This body of work is a meditation on the duality of God’s cosmic power and personal care. Paintings of vast atmosphere, marked by small moments of order and beauty, hang alongside intimate images of hands shaping clay. Together, they ask us to consider a Creator who exists in magnitude beyond comprehension, who brings chaos into order, and yet draws near to care for the brokenhearted. Ceramic vessels and images reveal God’s process of forming man as a potter with clay in His hands. Each stage of the ceramic process speaks to His careful work: forming, stretching, and refining each of us as vessels for His use, meant to carry a good deposit. A potter is not burdened by his work—he looks on it with delight, and he does not stop until it is finished.
This collection speaks to God’s role as Divine Creator, Loving Maker, and Personal Redeemer. May it cause us to consider whether God truly is this kind of God—and what that would mean for our lives.
