There is a new art installation at Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church embracing “hope and renewal” as restrictions continue to ease.
The art piece is called Hope Glimmers and is made up of 126 eight-foot high bamboo canes each wrapped in gold and all planted in two fan shapes in the church garden.
The spaces between the canes gradually increases showing the way that we are all moving on from lockdown towards newer freedoms.
The visual artists Gardner & Gardner created the work in two sections, one orientated towards the church and the other towards the street, seeking to unite people in the glimmers of hope.
Rev Dr Sandy Forsyth, minister of Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, approached Rev Peter Gardner and his wife and artistic partner, Heidi, with the idea of installing some type of art in the church garden that would help the church and the community to reflect together.
“Earlier this year I was thinking that as a church and a community we ought to mark the emergence from lockdown in a way that would help us look ahead with hope,” explained the minister.
“Easter is about rebirth and renewal and I wanted to try and express those themes in a way that would subtly engage church members and the wider community.
“I was looking for an idea that would touch people’s senses and something that they could encounter freely themselves and make up their own minds.
“I have known Peter and Heidi for many years and I approached them and I am delighted with what they have done.
“We have an installation that people can view on their own terms, they can walk past and glance at it or they can linger and think about it more deeply.
“I hope people will stop and reflect, remember what we have all been through but also look forward in hope, thinking too about how faith might interact with a potential future.”
Mr Gardner is the Church’s minister to the Visual Arts Communities of Glasgow and he and his wife have created many thought provoking installations over the years.
“Heidi and I hope that is this piece will help people to remember that the church building is open and as they walk past they will catch something of the hope that is expressed in this piece,” he said.
“It took two days to install and while we were doing it, many local folk stopped to chat and expressed an interest in the piece and the concept behind it,” he said.
“It is our hope that this artwork, sited in the garden of the recently re-opened church, willboth help people reflect on the shared experience of emerging from lockdown and communicate a glimmer of hope for the future.
“The gold leaf is a traditional material used by church icon painters and expresses something of the divine, the presence of God, and our hope is the canes will have a similar resonance.”
You can learn more about the visual meditation by using a smart phone to scan a QR code on a sign fastened to a tree which will take them to the church’s website.
People are also invited to take part in a free online ‘Meet the Artists’ event on 20 June.
Hope Glimmers will be in place on the West Mayfield side of the building until 28 June.
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