Hallowed be Your Name (2021)

prayer room installation: paper, pins, salt lamp, rug, cloth, music on loop: "Stillness" (05:02) Dwell: Linger album (2018)

Hallowed be Your Name is an installation work that manifests as an enclosed meditative space. The four-walled closet-like space that Hallowed be Your Name occupies encourages the viewer to have a moment of intimate reflection. The space is meant to be occupied by one viewer at a time. Within the space, it is dimly lit and atmospheric music plays softly. There is a short path at the entrance that leads the viewers to a spot to sit, lay, kneel, or stand in the small room. The walls, floor, and ceiling are covered with text in hundreds of languages, yet each language is sharing the same message:

“Our Father in heaven

Hallowed be Your name

Your kingdom come

Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

Forgive us of our debts

as we too forgive our debtors

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from the evil one”

This text is most commonly known as the Lord’s prayer, and can be found in the Christian Bible in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 9 through 13. It is there we find the story of Jesus of Nazareth preaching on a mountainside in the region of Galilee and, speaking to the crowds that had gathered to hear him and to his disciples, he teaches the Lord’s prayer as an example of how to pray. This text is significant because prayer is an integral part and privilege of faith. Through prayer, there is a communion occurring between human and God, an act that transcends the tangible. This prayer is presented in hundreds of languages on the papers pinned to the cloth-covered walls in order to celebrate the notion of collective belief and identity.

For me, as someone who believes in the truths of the Bible, I find great awe and delight in knowing that all around the world I have brothers and sisters in Christ praying to the same Father. The Bible talks about how God is for the nations and desires to have all peoples brought back to himself; people of every tribe and tongue. The global church is meant to be beautifully diverse, celebratory of cultural differences, yet all united in the exaltation and worship of the same Lord— I love this imagery.

For a viewer who has put their faith in Jesus and would profess the Lord’s prayer themselves, this installation is a space of intentional communion with their Lord, but also with the written voices of believers around the world who pray with them. For a viewer who does not affiliate themselves with the Christian faith, this room may feel exclusive or isolating. However, perhaps the dim lights, unobtrusive music, and spiritual aesthetic of the space will still provide an intimate and meditative moment for any viewer.

The space of Hallowed be Your Name and the direct invitation to pray also prompts viewers to consider their personal stance on prayer, spiritual practices and beliefs.