Nativity is hosting an art exhibition of a sculpture by student artist Maddy Stella. Maddy is a senior at Benedictine College pursuing a double-major in Art and Theology. The life-size sculpture, entitled
Outpouring Mercy, is a result of her reflections on the Year of Mercy and our current Year of Grace. The exhibition will be open for viewing in Steiner Hall this Saturday, July 29 through Tuesday evening, August 1.
From the artist:
“This sculpture began as a class project for which I could pick the message I wanted to communicate. As I pondered how I could give form to the themes of mercy and grace, I started by contemplating existing images. The Mercy image which we think of most readily is the Divine Mercy painting with rays of blood and water shining forth from the heart of Jesus—Mercy, pouring forth unceasingly, as he gives his whole life away.
“This is the way our Lord loves, undeservedly and unreservedly. And then there is grace, by which we are taken up into the very life of God. This is where we see that mercy and grace go hand in hand. Our Lord has made us in his image, to be one with him. And since he is simply love itself, then this is the universal vocation. This sculpture is an image of Christ, who pours forth and gives of himself unceasingly. It is also an image of God’s calling for each of us: ‘Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself’ (Gaudium et Spes, No. 24).
My prayer is that our Lord will use this sculpture for his purpose of making himself known to us, by being a means of reflection on those themes of mercy and grace which teach us about who God is and who we are in him.” -Maddy Stella