We all take on different postures when we enter into prayer with God. However, how does the way we position ourselves affect how we focus on God?
Rebekah Stockinger is a junior sculpture and animation major. This past fall, Stockinger was taking Animation 1 with Aaron Holmes, professor of art, and for the final project, she chose to make a short stop-motion video showing the different ways people might hold their hands out during prayer.
“The purpose of the original project for my class was to just study the way we relate to God in prayer with our hands,” Stockinger said.
For the video, Stockinger made thirty-six plaster casts of her own hands. Each sculpture took about forty-five minutes. She held her hands in a slimy substance for ten minutes before pouring plaster in then peeled back the hardened slime mold to reveal her hands.
Instead of throwing the sculpted prayer hands away once the project was finished, Stockinger decided to place them around campus in places she likes to pray.
“I especially hope people notice the ones that are not in the prayer chapels, because those are also in places that are special to me and where I have prayed before,” Stockinger said.
Stockinger placed about thirty hands around campus before winter break. Since then, several have either been broken or stolen.
“In the end, since this installation was merely an alternative to throwing the hands away, I think it is fun to see how people have been interacting with them,” Stockinger said.
Stockinger envisions this project slowing down or evolving into something else. She hopes to continue exploring hand gestures and expressions in her daily art practice.
