A  while ago, I took part in a fantastic exhibition organised by Engedi Arts

It was a new perspective on the Nativity Story; focussing on the risk taking elements. Here’s my piece, entitled “Life Script of Hope”.

The rest of the exhibition can be found at Leftbank Adventurous.

The accompanying text:

In my current training as an Art Therapist, we have been exploring “Life-scripts” (similar to post-modern, post-structuralist ideas of being born into a subject-position. A somewhat pre-determined role, shaped by our parents, history, culture etc….)

The Magnificat, the proclamation Mary made before Jesus was born, became the theme to his life. I wanted to explore the adventure our human life-story goes on; through the different cultures, times and spaces. How are we shaped by the story that pre-exists us? How might we use “hope as a state of mind” (as described by Václav Havel) to make our story better? My artwork is an attempt to depict the development of a life story, beginning before birth, and changing, developing as it moves through time (yet all the time connected to it’s origin). 

I have appropriated the aboriginal style of dot painting as the foundation layer for the artwork. Aboriginal art represents “origins” in a general sense. This aboriginal image is covered with “scripts”; extracts from newspapers, printouts of statistics about births; unmarried mothers and infant deaths. All of which could influence our concept of “risk”, how we view the world and make our choices.