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Artist Ryan Stander created a thoughtful piece in response to the theme of "Memory" from Psalm 88 and Psalm 106.
Psalms 106
Psalms 88
Untitled (Stander)
By
Ryan Stander
Credits:
Curated by:
Emily Clare Zempel
2013
Lithograph + Objects
Photography, Mixed Media
Primary Scripture
Yahweh, the God of my salvation,
I have cried day and night before you.
Let my prayer enter into your presence.
Turn your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles.
My life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down into the pit.
I am like a man who has no help,
set apart among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more.
They are cut off from your hand.
You have laid me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
Your wrath lies heavily on me.
You have afflicted me with all your waves.
Selah.
You have taken my friends from me.
You have made me an abomination to them.
I am confined, and I can’t escape.
My eyes are dim from grief.
I have called on you daily, Yahweh.
I have spread out my hands to you.
Do you show wonders to the dead?
Do the departed spirits rise up and praise you?
Selah.
Is your loving kindness declared in the grave?
Or your faithfulness in Destruction?
Are your wonders made known in the dark?
Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
But to you, Yahweh, I have cried.
In the morning, my prayer comes before you.
Yahweh, why do you reject my soul?
Why do you hide your face from me?
I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up.
While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
Your fierce wrath has gone over me.
Your terrors have cut me off.
They came around me like water all day long.
They completely engulfed me.
You have put lover and friend far from me,
and my friends into darkness.
Psalms 88
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Since seminary, the Psalms have had a special place in my heart and theology particularly the provocative lament and complaint Psalms as they draw upon memory in such interesting ways. Faith and our utter need for salvation allows Christians to boldly approach God baring the ugly realities of all that is wrong in the world to the only One who can set things aright. The psalmist’s testimonies left nothing out of their purview: praise and bitterness, hope and fear, life and death. In addition to the psalms that convey this emotional gamut, some also contain brute and penetrating questions of Yahweh: Why? Where? How long? These laments (and these questions of complaint) are firmly rooted in Israel’s covenant with God, utilizing memory of the both the individual and community. But more provocatively, many of the Psalms remind God of God’s own past promises and salvific actions. In other words, they remind God to be God.
I chose two Psalms to inspire this work, Psalm 88 and 106. Both use memory in curious ways as alluded to above. The psalmist in Psalm 88 recalls his current desperate circumstances and fears that having been forgotten by God. He then challenges God to recall God’s own attributes and past actions of “wonder”, “steadfast love”, and “faithfulness” in efforts to stir God into saving action once again. Psalm 106 recalls both sides of the covenant: God’s salvific actions on Israel’s behalf and Israel’s efforts and failures to live out their part of the covenant relationship. The psalmist says, “For their sake he remembered his covenant, and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.”
Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
Spark Notes
The Artist's Reflection
Originally from northwest Iowa, Ryan Stander is a fairly recent transplant to the plains of North Dakota. His education has alternated between art and theology with a BA in Art from Northwestern College (IA), an MA in Bible and Theology from Sioux Falls Seminary (SD), and an MFA from the University of North Dakota.
His research brings liturgical theology and the arts into dynamic conversations. In particular, Stander explores how the sacramental imagination, as formed through liturgical participation, engages ideas of place/space, and other cultural forms including the visual arts. As an artist, his work moves between printmaking and photography, with a keen interest in lithography and alternative photographic processes. Thematically, Stander’s work often engages concepts of memory and identity.
Ryan and his wife Karina recently moved to Minot, ND where he serves as an Assistant Professor of Art at Minot State University. Teaching primarily photography, Stander also recently started and now serves as the director for Flat Tail Press, an educational printmaking studio at Minot State University.
Ryan Stander
About the Artist
Ryan Stander
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