ARTIST STATEMENT:Psalm 11 opens up to David who has just been threatened with death by King Saul’s forces,wrestling with what I imagine to be his own amygdala telling him to “flee like a bird to yourmountain”. God designed our bodies to shift quickly to fight, flight or freeze when faced withan immediate, physical threat as a protective measure. We can think of many previousexamples of David running to the caves for shelter, and doing so saved his life! But today,David sees no reason to run. Why not this time? As a youth, David spent a lot of time inisolation tending to sheep. I imagine he cultivated a practice of taking refuge in his onlyCompanion. So now, perhaps David was able to stop the automatic, fear-based response andthink. He realized that to flee might mean to forsake his calling as the next king. He thenengaged in the kind of nonviolent resistance that Jesus Himself would model later for us.I see a powerful example of this kind of faithful resistance among Christians in Gaza right nowamid severe threats to their existence. They have coexisted with Muslims and Jews on theland for centuries. When they were encouraged to flee, they saw Israel’s indiscriminatebombing, and also knew that to leave might forfeit their chance of return*, so most decidedto take shelter together in the two remaining churches in the Gaza Strip. They have beenslowly succumbing to starvation, sickness, and snipers**. They are terrified, but they arerefusing to leave just because someone is holding up a Bible claiming it says someone elsedeserves the keys to their house.I chose to style my artwork after street protest art because it is art for the people. It shows upanytime an injustice is being confronted and people are organizing for change. I was inspiredby a trip we took last summer to Belfast and toured the murals that documented theTroubles, as well as many artists on Instagram who are addressing the struggle for Palestinianliberation. I will speak to a few of the key elements of my piece and hope it invites you intofurther exploration, both of the art as well as the people of Palestine.Red poppies grow wild all over Palestine. In fact, it is widely believed that this is the flowerthat Jesus referred to when he invited us to “consider the lilies”. I’ve chosen to represent thepeople of this land as the lilies and try to convey their steadfast resilience amidst muchhardship.Bulldozers: throughout the history of Israeli occupation, they have been used to destroy entirevillages and displace thousands of Palestinians. I encourage you to read the story of RachelCorrie.The dove represents the beautiful nonviolent resistance that was first modeled and taught byJesus, about turning the other cheek. Jesus was not advocating for passivity, but wasteaching us about the art of protest here. Instead of fleeing in fear, the dove is throwing openher feathered arms, as if to say, “You can kill me, but you must first see me.” This cry for theoppressor to recognize the imago dei in the oppressed is ultimately an act of love for theoppressor, too.*https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/15/75-years-later-israel-blocking-palestinian-refugees-return**https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/16/middleeast/idf-sniper-gaza-church-deaths-intl-hnk/index.html

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