Summit Crossing Community Church // Madison

ARTIST STATEMENT: JENNA HURT In my work, I am compelled to illustrate God’s Word in a way easily interpreted by the viewer. I find elements of nature to be beautiful hints to God’s own nature and character. This particular piece to illustrate Psalm 145 marks the beginning of exploring printmaking as a new medium to me. My goal is to communicate to the viewer God’s purposeful movement towards man, and man’s response in praise. I have decided to venture into printmaking partly because of design qualities that I wanted to be present in this work, to have elements that are fixed, symmetrical, and repetitive. I’ve also become intrigued with the process. Carving a block is tedious, takes patience, and is risky. Yet, it creates a beautiful piece that can’t be replicated with shortcuts. The path I’ve taken through grief to find joy is strikingly similar. In the span of 2 years, I suffered a miscarriage, wept over a total of about 20 negative pregnancy tests, intensely grieved of the stillbirth of my son, Joel,

The focus of much of my subject matter tends to be nature as a type of celebration of our Creator; however, I also do many custom pieces which gives me the opportunity to stretch and experiment. I work with pen and ink, pencil, clay and oils but my first choice is acrylic paint. Acrylics give me the flexibility to use texture and color as a way to set the tone or enhance a subject. Instead of signing my name I sign each piece with “EX 31” which is a reference to Exodus 31:1-6. In this passage, God explains to Moses that He had given specific abilities to certain people for His purposes. This is a reminder to me of where the ability comes from and also serves as an opportunity for a gospel conversation when anyone asks about it. The context of the Exodus account was the building of the tabernacle. We are later reminded of it at the time of the temple construction and again during the temple restoration after the return from exile. It is my belief that we have all been given abilities that He is using to contin