Baptismal: Water of Life

Helms Jarrell

Baptismal: Water of Life

Revelation 22:17

26 x 30’

Medium: clay, coffee stain, wood, glass jars, water from neighborhood creeks

Year Completed: 2020

NFS

“Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.”

I am building a body of work entitled “Sanctuary” that honors the sacred in the ordinary while also drawing attention to justice issues experienced in Charlotte, NC. “Sanctuary” will include holy objects such as: Reliquary, Baptismal Font, Communion Table, Chalice, Paten, Pulpit, and Vestments. Found objects are the primary materials used to create each piece. The works compel the viewer to consider the intersection of faith, justice, and social change.

Janelle Dunlap recently asked me to be a part of H2O: Elemental Retribution exhibit at Alchemy Lab @C3. In its inception, H2O is started off as a group exhibition exploring the human relationship to water. After COVID19 shifts, the exhibition grew to address issues of health, race, and justice as well.

The piece I made for the exhibit is a ceramic baptismal font installed beside collected waters from neighborhood creeks in Charlotte. I drove to each neighborhood, gathered water, and recorded the average age of death from each place. Neighborhoods in Charlotte are segregated by race and economics. Health and wellness disparities are made plain by the juxtaposition of life span demographics.

Our zip codes should not determine our health and they certainly should not take an entire decade away from our living.