Patchwork Hospitality
© 2001 Ginger Henry Geyer
glazed porcelain
6 ½” x 18” x 24”
Adaptations from 32 works of art (see list)
In the guest room of my parents’ home, there are always two or three family quilts awaiting my arrival. One hangs over an old wooden quilt rack, another is draped on a small rocking chair. There is often one folded up on the end of the bed, like a favorite bedtime story begging to be told. My black luggage, messy toiletries and wrinkled clothing quickly overtake the room, a contrast to the quilts and their backdrop of proper ancestor photographs. But the room is hospitable; it is more than tolerant of me and my contemporary litter. It welcomes me with its receptivity.
This porcelain sculpture is another family quilt, pieced together with stories from the Biblical family. On it are 32 paintings from a cross-section of art history. Each image evokes hospitality in some way. Some are the obvious Bible stories of hospitality, with hosts and guests: Abraham and the Three Visitors, Jesus in the Home of Mary and Martha, The Wedding at Cana, and the story of Zaccheus where Jesus mingles the roles of host and guest. Other paintings here stretch the concept of hospitality from kindly etiquette toward our own beloved into “making room” for the other. The Good Samaritan and Jesus Among the Children are examples of wildly inclusive love, compassion that is radical. When he dines with tax collectors, and deals with the adulteress, hospitality becomes subversive. God's lavish love, given in abundance regardless of who deserves it, is another realm of hospitality. Here it is shown in the Parable of the Sower as God broadcasts seed indiscriminately, and in the Jewish commands to leave grain for gleaners. Hospitality entails not only giving but also the openness to receive well, best known in the Annunciation and in the Pentecost.
The following list of paintings and scriptures chosen for this quilt includes many other stories that connote hospitality and inclusivity indirectly. As I researched images to use, the concept kept expanding…indeed, there are more instances of God’s generosity than there is painting surface on this large chunk of clay. Thus many of the “quilt squares” are partially hidden in the folds, and I imagine there are many more within that I cannot see.
What, then, is the quilt's flip side? Exclusivity, hidden boundaries? We all know that examples of this also prevail in the scriptures. How do inclusivity and exclusivity co-exist? Which boundaries protect fragile hospitality, and which ones break it? Some stories show boundaries that need to be broken, as Peter's Vision of the Unclean Animals (that story, oddly enough, is rarely portrayed in art, except in Christian clip art, which had to suffice here!) Exclusivity is enfolded in the literal piece of sculpture just as it is in real life—for of the 32 images selected, the majority are paintings by dead white European males…even though quilting is a predominately female craft. Reproductions of Biblical paintings from other cultures are scarce. However, patchwork is an art form represented in most cultures. The Amish easily take the prize for aesthetics in quilt design (in my opinion!) Quilts hung outdoors as secret signage for slaves traveling the Underground Railroad…quilts are strong in more ways than one. Patchwork is based on the ethic of frugality, and that wonderful human capacity to create beauty out of scraps. It is the leftovers from the miracle feeding, the crumbs under the table, the pottery shards that in God’s hands become valued and remade.
Patchwork is also a way of collecting parts and reforming the whole. My brother-in-law has commissioned a quilt composed of his old rock star T-shirts, and with it he reclaimed his adolescence and started a new band. I hear of a widow who's sewing a quilt of her husband’s dress shirts, with collars, buttons and all. “Cause quilts”, like the enormous AIDS quilt evoke the hospitable idea of strangers honoring strangers. Old quilts, like the embroidered “album quilt” in our guest room, commemorate the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. Patchwork is a craft that implies heritage, comfort, thrift and hominess. These are all good qualities, especially in times of turmoil. But is our faith homey? Is it more than a patched-up security blanket? What kind of coverage does God supply?
A scripture that is badly illustrated in art—the 23rd Psalm-- points to those questions. I've wrapped myself in the 23rd Psalm in times of trouble, and am glad to have its comforting imagery of green pastures and still waters. But the psalm is also unnerving:
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…” I’ve always visualized that as a picnic table in the midst of terror. And if you take the quilt out of the bedroom, out of your personal space, and spread it, it serves well as a tablecloth.
It may be patched together and multifold, but hospitality is the method of exchange between us, others, and God. It is how we can prepare a table, or a bed, for guests. And one of those guests could be God.
In Christine Pohl's book, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, the concept of hospitality is broadened far beyond the usual connotations of providing a welcoming home or festive event for one’s family and friends. Hospitality as a practice of making room for the other has always been central to Christian identity, and this requires “combining deep compassion with unflinching realism about how difficult it is to offer hospitality.” (Dorothy Bass on book jacket)
When this quilt is displayed, viewers are asked to figure out whose heart is being opened in the story. Is anyone being shut out? How is hospitality related to inclusivity and exclusivity? The images are more or less sorted into eight categories of hospitality:
1) HOSPITALITY TO ONE'S OWN, with celebration or gatherings of family and friends, the welcoming or service to others within your comfort zone
The Wedding at Cana
Last Supper
Christ in the House of Mary & Martha
Lydia
The Washing of Feet
2) HOSPITALITY AS RECEPTIVITY TO GOD, being available and ready to welcome the surprise of the Spirit, the preparation we cultivate with spiritual practices.
Annunciation
Pentecost
Upper Room
Zaccheus
Posada (no room at the Inn)
Light of the World.
3) HOSPITALITY AS LAVISH GENEROSITY, as holy provision and protection
Garden Of Eden
Noah’s Ark
Promised land
Three Maji
The Sower
Feeding of the 5000
4) HOSPITALITY AS OPENNESS TO THE OTHER, dropping one’s own boundaries of exclusivity, willingness to step out of your community's “safe zone”
Abraham and the Three Visitors
The Gleaners
Eliezar & Rebecca at the Well
Christ Among the Children
Peter’s Vision of the Clean & Unclean Animals
5) HOSPITALITY AS FORGIVENESS, the ability of love to heal personal affront
Joseph Making Himself Known to His Brothers
The Prodigal Son’s Return
6) HOSPITALITY AS WILD CIVILITY: service that goes beyond the good deed, is risky or heroic, and done without reward
Rahab the Harlot
Good Samaritan
Ascent to Calvary (with Simon of Cyrene)
Descent from the Cross (with Joseph of Arimathea)
7) HOSPITALITY AS HEALING, service that brings physical and spiritual wholeness
Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath.
Arise, Take Up Thy Bed and Walk
8) HOSPITALITY AS SUBVERSIVE TRANSFORMATION, that confronts prejudice or injustice, beyond charitable acts
Jesus & Woman Caught in Adultery
Jesus Dining with Pharisees & Tax Collectors
CULTURES REPRESENTED ON THE QUILT:
Byzantine-- 2
Medieval Europe— 7
Renaissance Europe, 14-16th c 3
Baroque, 17th-18th c-- 7
19th c. Romanticism, Post Impressionism 4
American folk art— 1
African-American (contemporary) 3
Mexican-American (contemporary) 1
African (contemporary) 1
Anglo (contemporary) 3
Images on Quilt, from left to right (#1-16), then up right side counterclockwise:
TITLE ARTIST NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY MEDIUM DATE SCRIPTURE
1. Garden of Eden. Erastus Salisbury Field, American. Oil on canvas, c.1865
(Genesis 2)
2. Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath. Ford Madox Brown, English Pre-
Raphaelite, painting, 19th c.
(I Kings 17)
3. Annunciation. Henry Ottawa Tanner, African-American, painting, 20thc
(Luke 1)
4. Zaccheus. Virgil Solis, German?, woodcut, 1562.
(Luke 19)
5. Rahab the Harlot. French manuscript painting. 14thc
(Joshua 2, 6)
6. Arise, Take Up Thy Bed & Walk Jan van Hemessen , Flemish, painting on
wood, 16th c.
(Matthew 9, Mark 2)
7. Wedding at Cana. Duccio, Italian. Tempera on wood, c. 1310
(John 2, 4)
8. Peter’s Vision of the Clean and Unclean Animals, Anonymous clip art,
American, 2001 ?
(Acts 11)
9. Last Supper. Fra Angelico. Italian. Fresco, 1438-45
(all 4 gospels, I Cor. )
10. The Sower Among Thorns and Good Ground. Canterbury Cathedral. Stained
glass, 12thc.
(Matthew 13)
11. Abraham & the Three Visitors. S. Maria Maggiore, Rome. Mosaic, 5thc
(Genesis 18)
12. Prodigal Son’s Return. Rembrandt, Dutch. Etching, 1636.
(Luke 15)
13. Christ in the House of Mary & Martha, Vermeer, Dutch. Oil on canvas,
1655
(Luke 10, John 12)
13. Good Samaritan. Van Gogh, Dutch. Oil on canvas, 1890.
(Luke 10)
14. The Washing of Feet. Swabian. Woodcut, 1480-90.
(John 13)
16. The Gleaners. Millet, French... Oil on canvas, 1855
(Leviticus 19, 23, Deuteronomy 24, Ruth)
17. Descent from the Cross. Chagall, Russian. Oil on canvas, 1968-76
(Joseph of Arimathea: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19)
18. Posada. Carmen Lomas Garza, Mexican-American, painting, 20th c
(Luke 2)
19. Ascent to Calvary. Rubens, Flemish. Oil on canvas, c. 1638
(Simon of Cyrene: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23)
20. Jesus & the Woman Caught in Adultery. Tiepolo, Italian. Oil on canvas,
18th c.
(John 8)
21. Feeding of the 5000 . (Scene X of the Miserero “Hunger Cloth”), Alemayehu
Bizuneh, Ethopian. Painting on cloth, 20th c.
(Matthew 14-16, Mark 8, Luke 9, John 6)
22. Light of the World. Holman Hunt, English. Painting, 1854.
(John 9:5)
23. Lydia. Meinrad Craighead, African-American, drawing (?), c. 1990 (Acts 16)
24. The Three Maji on their Way. San Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna. Mosaic
c. 520
(Matthew 2)
25. Noah’s Ark. Nuremberg Bible, German. Manuscript illustration, 1483
(Genesis 6 – 8)
26. Eliezar & Rebecca at the Well, Vienna Genesis, German. Manuscript
illustration, 6th c.
(Genesis 24:17-20)
27. Jesus in the House of Simon the Pharisee. Sant’ Angelo, Formis, Capua.
Fresco, 1072.
(Luke 7:36-50, anointing of feet)
28. Christ Among the Children, Emil Nolde, German . Oil on canvas, 1910
(Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16)
29. Fruit of the Promised Land Poussin, French. Painting, 1660-64.
(Numbers 13)
30. Joseph Making Himself Known to His Brothers, William Blake, English.
Watercolor, c. 1785
(Genesis 46)
31. The Upper Room. John Biggers, African-American, Painting, 20th c.
(Mark 14, Luke 22)
32. Pentecost. Rabbula Gospel, Syrian. Manuscript illustration, 7th c
(Acts 2)