“Art can speak to people in a way words cannot” said Nicholas Mynheer, the artist and sculptor, during his mesmerizing presentation at the 8th Walter Tapper Lecture. Mynheer, who was commissioned by the Community to design the altar for their Resurrection Chapel – arguably the focal point of CoR – said his art “is influenced by creation, the bible and by the desire to glorify God”. Even the casual observer could not fail to see these three in the finished work, and his measured and humble attitude invited all to look afresh at his own art, as well as inviting us to reimagine our own approach to faith interpretation.
The lecture provoked many questions from the large audience, and his erudite answers provided further food for thought, as each inspired us to reflect on how God can be made present for our generation, even in stone. His mission, he declared, is to turn the “darkness of despair…into the lightness of hope”. And how beautifully he does just that.
Benji Tyler CoR
