Fairfax Station artist, Lynn Goldstein, has just completed work for the humanitarian and multi-national exhibition, “Amen-A Prayer for the World,” to take place at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (Aug. 31 – Oct. 6) and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City (Oct. 12 – Nov. 6). This marks the sixth year of the Caravan art exhibitions, and the first year that Goldstein has participated. The exhibitions were founded in Cairo, Egypt, and seek to use the arts as a bridge for intercultural and inter-religious exchange, with the goal of enhancing understanding, respect, and deepening friendship between the cultures and creeds of the Middle East and the West. The curators for the exhibition were the Caravan founder, Paul-Gordon Chandler, and renowned Egyptian artist, Reda Abdel Rahman.
“I was so honored to be selected to participate in this exhibition. I had never made art on a life-size fiberglass form before. There was a giant learning curve for me, and the experience was technically and creatively challenging. I enjoyed every minute working on this project, and would welcome more opportunities of this nature in the future. To top it off, the cause of the Caravan organization is one that I embrace wholeheartedly, and I am pleased to be involved in an art initiative with a humanitarian purpose,” said Goldstein.
Each of the 48 participating artists were given life-size fiberglass sculptures in one of four poses of prayer to paint or decorate as they wished. The “model” used for each sculptural prayer form is a contemporary representation of Amun, the deity of ancient Thebes in the 11th dynasty (c. 21st century BC), who is considered the first to guide religion toward monotheism. Goldstein recognized right away that the pose chosen for her was perfect for her concept, which utilized trees, a subject used frequently in her landscape work, as the central imagery to symbolically indicate that each of us are stewards of one another and of our world. The title of her piece is “The Steward."
Following the exhibition in New York City, a charity auction of the artwork will be held by a Sotheby’s auctioneer for the Egyptian charity, Tawasol, to start a school in an impoverished section of Cairo.
This year’s exhibition will include work by 15 artists from the United States, 2 from the United Kingdom, 1 from France, and 30 artists from Egypt, for a total of 48 pieces. The artists come from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim backgrounds.
To see more of Goldstein’s work, you may visit her studio at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. To see her work online visit: www.lynngoldstein.com. Goldstein chronicled her experiences working on the Caravan project on her blog at: http://lynngoldsteinfineart.blogspot.com.
To see more information about Caravan, visit: http://www.oncaravan.org/.