Kylie Festen
Artist Statement
Via Lux: The Way of Light
This body of work is centered around the narrative relationship between God and humanity. Working sequentially, the images seek to tell the story of a person’s chosen position towards God, here portrayed as light. As humans living in a fallen world, we are all caught between the clash of the Light of God and the darkness of our sin. The position which a person chooses to take towards the Light or the darkness, whether we are aware of it or not, is the continuous and changing narrative of our soul.
I have found that art making is something which brings together the physical and the spiritual part of a person. Here, the spiritual state of this woman is brought to the front stage so that the viewer can see, in a literal and visible context, the journey her soul is making as it moves from rejection of the Light to freedom in the Light. Working together, the images in this body of work depict both the nature of her chosen position towards the Light, as well as the effects of that choice. However, no matter the nature of our relationship with God throughout life, our identity as image bearers of Him does not change. But God, though His Light, refines our identity so that we His servants, become His children.
