Love

Artist Statement

Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 1 John 4:9-11 For this piece, I wanted to express how God’s gift of love is sent down even to a hostile world. This gift brings multiplication—transforming a world void of love into one that begins to embody it. God’s love was not dependent on being repaid or even received well; He seeks out His creation even when it is incapable of giving anything in return. His call, then, is for us to love others as He has loved us: to act in love toward those who have nothing to offer back. In my work, I use an oval with a cross inside (⊕) to symbolize love, and a rectangle with an X inside (⛝) to represent the absence of love.These symbols trace a visual journey—love originating in the throne room, descending through Jesus, and entering a loveless world. At the bottom, a patterned sequence reveals love beginning as a single small gesture, then repeating, echoing, and ultimately overtaking the spaces where love once was missing. The word “agape” appears as a central thread—the Greek term for the unique, steadfast love that God has demonstrated toward us despite every obstacle. This piece is a statement of belief that God overflows with agape for His world, and our existing purpose is to receive the love given in Jesus in order to give it back out to others. I created the piece by carving a design into linoleum, inking the raised surfaces, and pressing paper onto it to produce a print. The print is framed within a hand-painted border.