“Anger and fury would be unsurprising emotions. I’m ready to accept from people who would be offended after I say that line.”
Artist on a mission Kristine Lim just opened an installation at Baluartillo de San Francisco Javier, Fort Santiago, Intramuros Manila called Portraits of Christ.
“If I tell you that the face of God that you have been worshiping and praying to is far from what He looked like, for sure, you will argue with me,” says Lim in her artist statement. “Anger and fury would be unsurprising emotions. I’m ready to accept from people who would be offended after I say that line.”
She says that we have been fed with information that doesn’t faithfully reflect the truth, but embedded in us so deeply. “We would fight even to death, even with friends and family, to be right with what we perceive as right. History books, news, media, even the books that our children read in schools have been our source of truth,” Lim claims. “But I stand with the absolute Truth, and there is no better source but the Bible. Victorious men wrote history, but the Bible are words of a victorious God. Both are ‘victorious,’ but it doesn’t mean they both uphold what’s accurate and true.”
Portraits of Christ then taps on one controversy in history and theology—that no one knows the real face of Jesus. Lim points out that the face that we recognize to be Lord is far from what he could have looked like.
“The different interpretations of the face of Christ have been dependent on the culture, taste, and era of the artist that envisioned and forged it. It has also heavily relied on the income that the churches can get based on the responses to the religious visuals that people were presented with,” she says. “This was very evident during the time of Pope Leo X; as overly pointed out by Martin Luther.”
If we are to read and understand the Bible truly, the artist says, the best way to see the face of Christ would be to see our worth and the worth of others. “He died for us on the cross as a ransom for our lives so we may be forgiven of our sins and freely live forever,” Lim evangelizes. “His life is equivalent to our lives and the lives of others (including those we hate and despise). To truly see who Christ is in our lives, we have to see His worth in who we are and His worth in everyone we encounter.”
She continues that to know the face of Christ, we have to search, face and accept the absolute truth that we can only find in Him.
“In this exhibit, we have a tunnel draped with red velvet to symbolize life and love. We also have mirrors hanging along the draperies,” shares exhibit curator Ian Belleza.
As you walk along the tunnel, Belleza explains, you will be “encouraged to reflect on your life and your relationship with God. Gaze into the mirrors and who do you see? Obviously, you see a reflection of yourself. However, have you ever thought about being with God when you gaze in the mirror? Remember, God made man in His image; this is what Kristine Lim wants us to remember as we take a walk along her exhibit. Thus, we see the many Portraits of Christ.”
Portraits of Christ runs from February 28 to April 1 at Baluartillo de San Francisco Javier, Fort Santiago, Intramuros Manila.
