Artist’s Statement

This is a highly conceptual piece that had been percolating in my heart and mind for quite some time. I’d been searching for a way to boldly and artistically demonstrate the only two contrasting relational realities for man vis-à-vis God, and the power of Christ to transfer a man from one to the other by His power and grace. The latter is the overarching theme of the sculpture, the main point being that in the Gospel, Jesus Christ emancipates man from slavery to sin and vain/empty religion into a relationship of forgiveness, love and freedom.

Emancipation I: Sin & Vain Religion

The first sculpture of this two-part series depicts the human heart in heavy bondage. The Bible is quite clear that outside of trusting in Christ, all are slaves to their sin, and as such are bound up by it. Being dead in this cycle, we are unable to break free by our own power. We are captives in a spiritual sense, as is clearly taught in these Bible passages.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)

For the wages of sin is death…. (Romans 6:23a)

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. (Romans 7:14)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)

It is this cold, dreadful, deadly condition that I wanted to convey in the Emancipation I: Sin & Vain Religion. I did this in part by making the sculpture heavily, almost overwhelmingly metallic. The steel is thick, bright, and industrial. The steel spike upon which the human heart is impaled is cold and unforgiving, jagged and deadly. The thick chain (thickest I could find) is fastened to the base with two beefy steel bolts to emphasize the impossibility of escape. The chain is tightly wound around the heart; unforgiving steel against a vulnerable organic form, offering no chance for freedom. These plus the steel-cased lock say one thing: this human heart is locked up tight in slavery to sin.

The exclamation point on this sculpture is that the lock is a “Master” brand lock, a fitting if not ironic metaphor for its role in the piece. Outside of Christ, sin and vain religion are our “masters,” locking us up in our wickedness, binding us in the darkness, and sealing us for the wrathful judgment of a righteous and holy (i.e. morally pure, sinless) God.

Another element I employed to make the point of enslavement is contrast. I made the heart out of handmade paper (a warm, organic, fibrous material) to contrast the cold, metallic feel of the steel. Enveloped in and impaled upon the “inhuman” steel, the heart appears all the more pathetic and helpless. Even the fact that the heart is impaled on the spike, helplessly bleeding, is a violent, emotion-evoking image in itself. The heart is squished, constricted tightly by the chains around her, and blood oozes from this helpless organ. It is a picture of utter despair and complete bondage.

Most people recoil upon first seeing Emancipation I: Sin and Vain Religion. It is hard to be confronted with the abruptness and coldness of the steel, and its overwhelming value in the piece. It seems imbalanced, all that steel and metal. The heart seems so overpowered, so…enslaved. And well it should. The response of recoiling and discomfort is a fitting one. As an artist, it is exactly what I sought to elicit in the viewer as the truth of one’s bondage to sin strikes the senses in a fresh way. It must be this way – that we become aware of our bewildering predicament and bondage to sin – before we cry out for and fully rejoice in God’s provision of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Emancipation II: Freedom & Relationship

The second sculpture in this piece, Emancipation II: Freedom & Relationship, depicts the glorious result of Christ’s work in freeing a heart bound and enslaved by sin and empty religious practice. This spectacular work of Christ is repetitively shared in the Bible.

And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:1-2)

But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh King of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:7)

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man…. (Romans 8:3)

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

The Biblical evidence is overwhelming: Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, the same sins that had enslaved us and bound us for the judgment of God depicted in Emancipation I. The verses above show that Jesus did this “while we were still powerless” (Romans 5:6), and “when we were dead in our sins” (Colossians 2:13). In other words, our hearts were solidly chained and completely unable to work their own emancipation. But the good news of the Gospel is this: Jesus Christ did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He set us free by His death on the cross, paying the penalty there for all our soul-enslaving and wrath-provoking sins. Hallelujah!

In Emancipation II, all the enslaving machinery of Emancipation I has been destroyed. The chain that once bound the heart so tightly has been cut, melted, and gnarled in multiple places. The cold steel spike has been cut and ruined. The base has been charred. And that old “Master” lock has been hacked and slashed. It now bears the signature of the One who did all this destroying: Jesus’ cross. Deeply engraved in that old “Master,” the cross of Christ now stands as permanent testimony that sin and vain religion’s power to enslave the Christian has been destroyed.

And where is the heart that once languished, pathetically impaled and bleeding on the cold steel spike of sin and empty religion? She has been set free, completely liberated from the scene. Where has she gone? To the lap of God to hear Him say,

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1a)

Emancipation – it’s a personal sculpture

As a believer in Christ, I still struggle to enjoy the ramifications of the truths presented so powerfully in this sculpture. That’s one reason I created it – to remind me! Though I have put my faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life, I often go “temporarily insane” and forget what He has done for me. What I mean is this: though I have been objectively freed from my sin and the condemnation of God, I sometimes disbelieve it and subjectively imagine my heart still locked up. This often happens after I have committed a sin, or have fallen to some besetting weakness. In those times, I foolishly imagine my heart re-impaled and re-chained in slavery.

I call this “temporary insanity” because the objective truth is that in Christ, I have been freed once and for all and the machinery that bound me has been irreparably destroyed. This fact is portrayed in Emancipation II which reflects the Biblical truth that Jesus has destroyed all that old steel prison-wear! There is no longer a spike upon which I can be impaled. There is no chain that can bind me. There is no lock that can imprison me. All have been destroyed by Christ. Yet, there are still times when I forget these things and so am subjectively/experientially disconnected with these truths and their benefits.

As a Christian, this sculpture helps “return me to the sanity” of knowing the objective power of what Christ has done for me. It reminds me of where I was (bondage and helplessness) and how He has set me free. In that sense, for me this sculpture is the “reality check” I so often need. I need to be reminded that my heart has been set free by the power of Christ. I need to reconnect with the truth that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The “those” of this verse includes me since I have put my trust in Christ for eternal life. Creating this piece, writing this artist’s statement and enjoying my finished artwork all re-connects me subjectively/ experientially to the truths of the Gospel which remain ever-true and ever-constant, un-assaulted by my occasional disbelief.

If you are a Christian, that is if you have put your trust in Jesus Christ alone and in His death on the cross as payment for the penalty of your sins, you may relate to my experience. If that is the case, my prayer is that you are encouraged as I am by this piece. May we both “return to sanity” as we think on these things and view this sculpture. Let us know that we have, once and for all, been set free from the bondage of sin and the condemnation of God by the work of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

If you are not yet a Christian, I urge you to put your trust in Jesus Christ for eternal life. If you do not, the vision of Emancipation I: Sin and Vain Religion, will be your eternal state. The Bible is plain about this. If you will not allow Jesus to set you free, you will remain helplessly impaled on your own sins and mistrust of God. You will remain chained by them, and will endure God’s wrath for your sins for all eternity. Embrace Jesus’ offer and emancipating work which is freely offered to you in the Gospel. And come rest with me in the lap of God, where there is joy and mercy forevermore. Amen.