photo: Lineweight Studio
Via Lucis, 2024. antique glass, toughened glass, glass stain, lamination, silicon, galvanized steel. Fifteen pieces, variable dimensions.
Site-specific commission for Purification Heritage Center
“Via Lucis” was created for Heritage, a Catholic retreat center in eastern Georgia where retreatants are encouraged to encounter God through nature, sacred art, and each other. The artworks are installed in “Resurrection Meadow,” a large field bordered by pine forest. The artworks, imagined as “jewels” of the meadow, depict the Stations of Light, actively engage visitors, and facilitate joyful spiritual reflection.
The Stations of Light is a devotion that highlights the appearances of the Risen Lord from Easter to Pentecost, as narrated in the four gospels. “Via Lucis” includes fifteen works: a large depiction of the Risen Christ and fourteen smaller stations, each depicting a particular encounter with Jesus. The Risen Christ is life size and stands at the meadow entrance—a person approaching from the west encounters Christ rising like the sun to the east. The fourteen stations are arranged across the meadow in seven groupings according to chronological and thematic sequence. In this way, the visitor is called to enter into the disciples’ experience as they encountered Christ after his resurrection.
Movement and procession are key to the devotion, engaging body and soul and recalling the pilgrimage journey of the Christian life. Paths connecting the stations allow for movement, making this devotion a “way” of light. The stations are displayed at various heights and arrangements to invite curiosity and encourage engagement. Bright saturated colors animate the biblical events and accent the landscaping like wildflowers among grasses.
Each station combines a scene of Christ and disciples with a digital photograph of dappled light taken at the site. These two elements are merged into a single layer, both symbolizing Christ as the “Light of the World” and embodying the idea of encounter that characterizes these scriptural events and the retreat center. This referencing to site reminds us that, like the disciples, we encounter Christ in a particular time and place.
The Stations of Light is a devotion that highlights the appearances of the Risen Lord from Easter to Pentecost, as narrated in the four gospels. “Via Lucis” includes fifteen works: a large depiction of the Risen Christ and fourteen smaller stations, each depicting a particular encounter with Jesus. The Risen Christ is life size and stands at the meadow entrance—a person approaching from the west encounters Christ rising like the sun to the east. The fourteen stations are arranged across the meadow in seven groupings according to chronological and thematic sequence. In this way, the visitor is called to enter into the disciples’ experience as they encountered Christ after his resurrection.
Movement and procession are key to the devotion, engaging body and soul and recalling the pilgrimage journey of the Christian life. Paths connecting the stations allow for movement, making this devotion a “way” of light. The stations are displayed at various heights and arrangements to invite curiosity and encourage engagement. Bright saturated colors animate the biblical events and accent the landscaping like wildflowers among grasses.
Each station combines a scene of Christ and disciples with a digital photograph of dappled light taken at the site. These two elements are merged into a single layer, both symbolizing Christ as the “Light of the World” and embodying the idea of encounter that characterizes these scriptural events and the retreat center. This referencing to site reminds us that, like the disciples, we encounter Christ in a particular time and place.
photo: Glasmalerei Peters
photo: Glasmalerei Peters
Collaborators
Owner Purification Properties | Landscape Designer Mary Konieczny | Glass Studio Glasmalerei Peters | Metalsmith Red Iron Studio |Graphic Design Wood Bat Brand | Architect Lineweight Studio