Lu Lan's Biblical Art

Today I gave a talk on "Who Wrote the Bible" at the Rev. Will Scott's church, St. John's McLean. Thanks for all your behind-the-scenes work, Will! After my talk and after the morning prayer service, Catherine and I went to the church's upper floor gallery to see the biblical paintings of Chinese American artist Lu Lan. The exhibit will be available from August 28 through November 3.

Here is her painting of Ruth bearing up under her commitment to stay with Naomi:

When you look at the actual painting in person, in the upper left there are two Chinese characters for successful harvest and agricultural bounty.

Lu Lan was born in Nanjing, Mainland China, in 1972, where she grew up in a family that encouraged her pursuit of the arts in her work and study. Her mother is also an artist. She graduated from Nanjing College of Arts with a Bachelor's degree. After graduation she worked for the Amity Christian Art Center for five years and spent most of her spare time doing Biblical Story Painting. She has been influenced by Chinese traditional pattern, form and style, and also by some of the Chinese minority art. In these paintings she uses bright colors, vivid images and traditional costumes, which convey a Chinese message in visual context. Lu Lan has attended locally Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., where she received a Master of Theological Studies in Religion and Art in May 2002. She has had an Artist-in-Residence Fellowship at the Henry Luce III Center for Art and Religion at Wesley.