Desert

Emily Verdoorn

Emily Verdoorn, Desert (2019), Pen, pencil, India ink, watercolor, acrylic, marker, thread, and tea on paper, 8.5" x 11".

Emily Verdoorn’s responsive art grapples with the thirst for God, the often desert-like nature of faith, and being mindful of the opportunities to drink that come along in what often appears to be a dry and barren journey. She observes, “There is a longing for the depths of God to call out to the depths in us: to be overwhelmed with the presence of God like a waterfall, like waves, like a deep and beautiful song in the night. And yet we thirst.”

Verdoorn uses the imagery of desert, water, a cathedral, birds, a window, dried flowers, a map of catacombs, mountains, rain, and houses along with non-representational mark-making to meditate on and wrestle with this reality. As she looks for water, she is drawn to the water she finds in the history of the church, the communion of Saints, and being a part of a story that is larger than herself.

“There are draughts of water in creation and in God's people, in the joy and sadness of cathedrals and catacombs, and even, in my thirst. Sometimes these sips of water are pure joy, and other times the water seems mixed and muddied. In many ways I am still looking for the deep waterfall of God’s presence, but it is a good thing to know that this thirst points to its fulfillment in pure and Living Water.” Psalm 42

Emily Verdoorn creates her work gradually in bits and pieces over time as she tries to pay attention to the world around her and to what God is doing within. Both during and after making Desert, she wrestled with the discomfort of thirsting for God’s presence. Verdoorn was reminded of Psalm 42: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”

She observes, “The Psalmist goes on to ask, ‘Where are you God?’ Through the psalm, he remembers times where he led the procession to the house of God with rejoicing, and he acknowledges that he will again praise God, but right now he feels that God has forgotten him. There is a longing for the depths of God to call out to the depths in us: to be overwhelmed with the presence of God like a waterfall, like waves, like a deep and beautiful song in the night. And yet we thirst.”

 

Additional Information & Resources

 

Emily Verdoorn

Emily Verdoorn received her BFA in Visual Art at Belhaven University. This past August, she moved to Wheaton, Illinois, to live and to continue her studio practice. Emily particularly loves being outdoors: hiking, backpacking, exploring, or just reading a good book.

2021Anselm Society