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Dancer and painter Carrie Swim combines these two art forms to explore the theme of "Dancing" from John 10 and Zephaniah 3, resulting in her works "Known" and "Over-turn." Due to the physical nature of Carrie's process, she has included video of their creation.
Zephaniah 3
Known and Over-turn
By
Carrie Swim
Credits:
Collaborator: Katelyn Creech
Curated by:
Emily Clare Zempel
2013
“Known, Held Release and Follow,” 96 × 48 inches.
“Over-turn,” 68 x 48 inches.
Dance, Oil over Acrylic on Canvas
Physical Paintings
Primary Scripture
Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city!
She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God.
Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.
Yahweh, within her, is righteous. He will do no wrong. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He doesn’t fail, but the unjust know no shame.
I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
I said, “Just fear me. Receive correction, so that her dwelling won’t be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her.” But they rose early and corrupted all their doings.
“Therefore wait for me”, says Yahweh, “until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.
From beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, even the daughter of my dispersed people, will bring my offering.
In that day you will not be disappointed for all your doings, in which you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out from among you your proudly exulting ones, and you will no more be haughty in my holy mountain.
But I will leave among you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in Yahweh’s name.
The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.”
Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.
Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more.
In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.”
Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you.
Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth.
At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says Yahweh.
Zephaniah 3
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Where the creative process harbors listening and response, I involve every element of my art making practice. For the last year and a half I have found an important and even necessary relationship between dance and painting. I found I could not truly understand or explore the content of my work without participating in both forms. Thus, I combined forms of dance and lyrical abstract painting to enter into moments of intentional engagement with points of reality, question, and petition. My body becomes like a brush pushing through paint that establishes form with movement and contact to surface of the floor and canvas. Movement with my body awakens the reality of my position in the room and relationship with myself and other things around and within me. As I carry paint onto the canvas the marks have a similar effect within the stage of the canvas that testify to the movement that established them. With each movement I seek to move in the rhythm of God’s heart that I seek and my own heart that seeks His face. I try to position myself to best hear more than speak that any visual word in movement and stroke would be the fruit of actual contact with truth and God’s presence.
An example of this listening process can be seen in an excerpt of my description from my "Over-turn" piece.
…Two marks that looked like marks of breath and opening became wings of song covering and victory…where in between something solid rests yet pours and like the Shepherd gathers marks of green and purple circling around stones laid. My body and the marks listen to the pouring, lifting, each other, and invisible forms that emerge in their dance look like stones. They are stones of the testimony of God’s faithfulness and/or perhaps the walls of Jerusalem.
Spark Notes
The Artist's Reflection
Carrie Swim‘s work reveals a special sensitivity to breath, space, and dimensions of the living and dyeing that mandates the use of her body like a tool along with the brush. Here, in realms that flow in and out of tradition into lyrical-abstraction, she describes form and experience of the seen and unseen to touch and breath through revealed moments of difficult and beautiful truth. The genesis of her creative processes unfolded in early years of her home city Houston, Tx . There, in her residence of 24 years there, the time was marked with international and spiritual experiences with embodied truth that she finds weaving and unraveling the marks, breath, and motion of our beings. This ignited the explorations and depth of her work.
She attained her BFA in painting from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, studying primarily under Karl Umlauf and Berry Klingman. She enjoyed exhibiting in a variety of shows and was able to continue her international experiences studying painting and drawing in Florence, Italy for the summer of 2008. She lead teams in India and Mexico and served in China and Kenya as well. She obtained her terminal MFA in May 2012 from the University of Kansas studying primarily under Judith McCrea, Norman Achers, and Maria Velasco; continuing to travel and display work in the Kansas City and Lawrence area and currently shows work in Houston, Tx, Lawrence, Kansas, and Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
Her travels of place and expression led her to her current residence in East Harlem, New York City where she engages her tools in moments of surprise in realities and questions that press and break through to canvas and skin and new movements that open possibilities of composition and meaning within space and form.
Carrie Swim
About the Artist
Carrie Swim
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