Beyond the Ruins Exhibit Now Open
08/21/2014 .Saddleback Church is proud to welcome artist Bryn Gillette and his paintings to the Lake Forest campus. Bryn's work, titled Haiti—Beyond the Ruins is a moving glimpse into his heart for Haiti. He became an advocate for the beautiful yet beleaguered nation of Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and injured 300,00 more.
Saddleback's Storytelling team sat down with Bryn to learn about how he became involved in bringing awareness to Haiti and its people.
Saddleback: How did you get your start in the arts?
Bryn: I was always drawing as a child—trying to find an outlet for my imagination, and my parents were very supportive. I can trace my first real desire to paint (as well as read) to an illustrated book cover I discovered in a dusty box of my uncle’s basement. Fortunately, I had a very good middle and high school art program where I was given a solid foundation as a painter. Perhaps that’s why I’m such a passionate middle and high school art teacher today.
S: How did you become so involved in advocacy for Haiti?
B: I met a modern-day saint and beloved brother in Christ in 2000, Daniel Jean, who radically obeyed God’s call to return to his native Haiti after Bible training to care for the vulnerable street orphans like he had once been. He models a life of tremendous faith, miraculous provision, and is now caring for over 200 orphans through the enormous community church he founded. My artwork for Haiti began as a celebration and promotion of his ministry.
S: What is it about Haiti that has moved you to be so involved in bringing awareness to the country and its situation?
B: I was adopted by Haitian orphans. It’s counter-intuitive, but when I first visited in 2008 with my father Mark, we were so welcomed by our beautiful Haitian “family” that we knew where our hearts belonged. Kingdom economics work differently than the world’s economic. I understand Haitians to be wealthier than Americans in many of the most significant aspects of life (faith, joy, community, and resilience). Each time I return to the U.S. from Haiti I am shocked at the spiritual stagnation amidst abundance and materialism. My work is about sharing Haiti’s vibrant faith to awaken us while connecting our material abundance to Haiti’s critical needs.
S: What would people be surprised to hear about Haiti, given that the news coverage has dwindled?
B: People who had not been conscious of Haiti before the 2010 earthquakes would be surprised to know that Haiti was in terrible ruins BEFORE the earthquake. It is still in political, economic, and ecologic ruins, despite years of short-term relief. People would also be shocked to hear that the seven-billion-dollar pledge that the U.N. made to the Haitian government was, in large part, never given, and that the overwhelming majority of U.S. donations went into the pockets of U.S.-based NGO’s. An entire shift in ideology is needed for the world to honor Haiti as a sovereign nation, empowering Haiti to lead its own restoration.
S: How does art give you the ability to bring awareness?
B: Shakespeare said that art holds a mirror up to life. Art can provide the emotional space to step back from the practical “nitty-gritty” of fixing issues and see the big picture—the 10,000 foot view. From that vantage, people are able to feel, dream, imagine, collaborate, and hopefully re-engage the practical issue with a sense of clarity. We have called the Beyond the Ruins tour a “conversation” because it hosts a gathering to engage on the big picture level. It is like having twelve life-size witnesses surrounding a space, inviting viewers to engage with the realities of Haiti while prayerfully exploring God’s heart for this nation’s restoration.
S:Tell us about some of the pieces that will be on display at the Saddleback gallery opening? What inspired these paintings?
B: All twelve pieces were painted on actual doors, symbolic for me of portals into another reality. I envisioned the final display to be like C.S. Lewis’ woods between worlds, where each door would be a window into another reality. The doors each have their own story and evolved over four summers in the studio, several of them being entirely repainted multiple times as I journeyed deeper into the material. All of them are oil paintings, while “Cathedral” has glass in it from the actual windows from the Port-Au-Prince ruins.
To highlight one specific piece, “Written in the Stars” is a painting with a boat and the night sky. It is based on the Lord’s prayer “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and became the banner piece of the show—the spiritual key to all the other paintings in the series. It is a declaration that it is God’s heart for evil and injustice to be overthrown. It is a painted prayer that God’s eternity plan be pulled down into this sunset, this day’s labor, this turning of the tide. For each of the other spheres of society I addressed in the series (government, education, family, etc.) I found myself following this same process: exploring God’s heart through countless conversations with him and those around me, and prayerfully painting the idea of “His Kingdom come” into each painting.
S: What will people experience when they see Beyond the Ruins at Saddleback?
B: I hope they encounter the beauty and brokenness of Haiti through the paintings, and feel drawn into the many-layered stories within the work. I pray that they are welcomed into rich conversation about what it takes to restore nations and what it means to be Kingdom agents in our world. I know they will be enfolded into a supportive artistic community where creativity is championed!
The Saddleback Art Gallery is located in the Lake Forest Worship Center foyer and is open before and after weekend services. Click here for service days and times.
