Spirited Arts 2023
Name: Vrinda
Age: 13
School: St Christophers School
Artwork Title: The mystery of God
Where is God? God, like beauty, lies in the eyes of the beholder. My artwork displays my perception of God, the one I developed as a child, and maybe I am still developing. It is a perception that I think many children share, including the two children in my painting. Usually, when an innocent child having deep questions asks an adult about God, they usually respond with vague answers like “God is in the stars” or “in the universe” yet the childlike curiosity remains unstated. But maybe after reviewing this work some answers might be able to open up for all of us. RE, as a subject, has given us space to think about these matters and has helped me to come up with some thoughts. My painting aims to depict that childhood innocence. The two boys in my painting look up at the stars with a telescope trying to find the famed ‘God’.
Children have young, curious and intellectual minds, allowing them to think in unimaginable ways. My drawing shows this spark of curiosity as the young boys look to find and encounter God. I had the thought to use a scientific piece of equipment like a telescope to help them dive into the sky with the hope of finding God. This idea came to me and was inspired from a recent NASA disover- a discovery that may change the way we look for God. When NASA discovered a cosmic graph of material ejected bya starburst that formed the shape of a hand, some people assumed it to be an astrophysical phenomenon, others chose to see it as the ‘hand of God’ resting in their head and guiding them through life. This really got me thinking and I believe that the only way you as an individual can find God is to follow the path that you believe is what you think will lead you to him and for these young boys that is a telescope.
This small act of theirs symbolizes more than we can comprehend until we realize that that we must decide the story behind the artwork. It’s really not about what you see in this artwork of mine but how you decide to see it. People may see the stars twinkling and tell themselves it’s God’s way of showing anger or pleasure. We don’t know if the children think of God as a wizard thar can magically solve all problems or as a superhero who will protect them from all the bad guys. They have faith in his existence and that is what God is all about.
But what really remains a mystery in my painting is did those young boys ever succeed, did they find God or a sign from God perhaps, well I guess we will never find out, it will always be an unsolved mystery for you, me and maybe those boys.
