As glass is stained, wires are wrung, and bottles are emptied, art students Alicia Hampton, Rebecca Vink and Chrisy Hurn finalize their series to be featured at Redeemer’s showcase this December. Crown writer Elise Arsenault was able to speak with each artist, hearing firsthand about the muses, media, and heart behind their creations. Alicia Hampton’s four art pieces, entitled In Brokenness We Give Blessing, are based on the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. With emphasis on our becoming new creations in Christ, Alicia’s sculptures and stained glass carry us through a transformation we are to bear in fear and wonder. “As Christians we encounter suffering and brokenness, but we have to be broken in order to let our colour out and bless people around us,” she says. “Sometimes, fear of suffering and brokenness hinders us from blessing others. But it can be a gift; God allows us to be broken in order to heal us from it and further His Kingdom through it.” Rebecca Vink’s Tarnished Portraits makes use of old and corroded pieces of jewelry, wire, and chain to form the features and contours of faces. Tarnished bits are used to symbolize a union between our past and present. Where wire meets canvas, mess meets masterpiece in this powerful series. It’s in the colliding of past and present, Rebecca believes, that our character is built strongest: “It is our tarnished past that helps piece us together into our present selves. Our past has a purpose: to bring both inspiration and knowledge”. Chrisy Hurn’s series, The Paradox of the Table, is a response to the story of Jesus separating the goats from the sheep. “It is through these pieces that I am asking myself- ‘Am I a goat or a sheep?’ It is about the paradox and the tensions within my own Christianity and faith, but also those arising from being broken people and living in a community with other broken people.” After unpacking this theme for a year or so, Chrisy sees it’s potential to resonate with everyone: “We have all dealt with these questions in one way or another. My hope is for people to connect with that experience, recognize those questions within themselves, and take them home.”