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2 spring 2018
Stitched Glass took 15 years to complete
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pastels. I scanned a photo of that cartoon into a software program for knitters, which imposes a grid over the design. That grid became my knitting pattern.
The tapestry was too large to knit in one piece, so I split it into smaller sections in much the same way a stained glass window is par- titioned by cames or lead borders. To achieve the luminescent effect of glass in the opaque medium of yarn, I knit with four to six strands of dif- ferent coloured yarn at once. As the yarn twists in the knitting, the differ- ent hues give the illusion of the play of light through coloured glass. Of course, knitting like this is slow go- ing. One reaches terminal velocity quickly, and the only thing to do is plod along, stitch by stitch. Keep- ing in mind that there have been our kids and a day job to juggle, it is little wonder that the first tapestry took me four years to complete, and the next two tapestries, a little over five years each.
The impetus behind Stitched Glass was always to get people talking: create an opportunity for interfaith understanding and empathy. But, like any story worth telling, there are always obstacles. I could not figure
out how to get the installation seen. I did not train in textile art; I don’t have an agent, a gallery selling my art or a body of work. I just have one huge project that’s taken me 15 years to complete.
Given that I started my career as an actor, an idea surfaced to write a one-man show that I could perform, using the tapestries as my set. The show, called “The Knitting Pilgrim,” uncovers the themes of the installa- tion, and the process of knitting for 15 years, but it also delves into my life as the product of three genera- tions of Presbyterian ministers, and what I’ve learned from my parents who, together, served the church for over 60 years. It was from them that I learned about compassion and empathy. About the need to accept women and the LGTBQ community into the church. About universalism, and the idea that “everyone gets in.” Starting in September 2018, we will tour the textile exhibition and play to theatres, textile and liturgical muse- ums, and places of faith around the world.
September 11, 2001 was only two years past when I started Stitched Glass. Unfortunately, I needn’t have been concerned that the project
Working on the Judaic window.
might become irrelevant before I’d finished my work. The aftermath of 9/11 continues, and alongside the
advent of politicians who are unfet- tered in their disregard for “the Other,” and the proliferation of social media
with its ability to amplify knee-jerk, and sometimes hateful, commen- tary, our society has become more polarized and less compassionate. We have moved into an age of high- speed misinformation and away from a time of respectful, empathetic face- to-face conversation.
Are we courageous enough to have that conversation? Both the in- stallation and play have the potential to offend, but that’s not my goal. My hope is to create an opportunity to come together to talk. And in doing so, hopefully we can see past our mistakes, faults and differences to acknowledge that we are all the chil- dren of God, and are called to love one another and to live in peace, sha- lom and salaam.
To see more of Kirk’s textile work, visit kirkdunn.com. For booking in- quiries about Stitched Glass and The Knitting Pilgrim, visit ergoartstheatre. com. Kirk is thankful for the financial support of the Ontario Arts Council Chalmers Foundation, the Toronto Arts Council and The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
To see more of Kirk’s textile
work, visit kirkdunn.com. For booking inquiries about Stitched Glass and The Knitting Pilgrim, visit ergoartstheatre.com. Kirk is thankful for the financial support of the Ontario Arts Council Chalmers Foundation, the Toronto Arts Council and The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
mESSaGE FRom ThE moDERaToR
Easter Threatens Us with Resurrection
By the Rev. Peter Bush, Moderator of the 143rd General Assembly
“Threatened with Resurrection” is a poem by Julia Esquivel who was exiled from Guatemala during the 1980s. The poem’s premise is that the death squads threatened those they killed with resurrection. An ex- cerpt from the poem:
“No, it’s not the noises in the streets
which does not let us sleep.
It is the earthquake soon to come that will shake the world
and put everything in its place. Accompany us then on this vigil and you will know what it is to dream!
You will then know how marve- lous it is
to live threatened with Resurrec- tion!”
(Threatened with Resurrection, The Brethren Press, 1982)
People around the world are haunt- ed by the hope of resurrection. The Copts of Egypt, the Christian com- munities in Indonesia, the Karen
people in Myanmar, Dalit Christians in India, Christians in Somalia, and others, all live in the knowledge of the truth of Easter: death is not the end. Knowing that even while human powers threaten to take their homes, their livelihoods, their lives, the risen Jesus is greater than all the threats, greater than all the violence that might be directed against them. The resurrection of Jesus points to the reality that “final victory is assured over all evil powers which destroy and deform life, and that death, the last enemy, is conquered” (Living Faith 3.5.2). Death and destruction are not the end. Even when they ap- pear to have done their worst, they have opened the door to the power of the resurrection, for God knows how to get people out of the grave. God raised Jesus Christ from the grave on Easter and God will do it again, raising people to life again. Death and destruction are themselves threat- ened with resurrection.
Few of us are ever confronted by people threatening to kill us. How- ever, we are all confronted by forces
that seek to “destroy and deform life.” This world, where people can work hard but do not advance, where those who are willing are unem- ployed, where poverty creates isola- tion, is threatened with resurrection, and the new order that resurrection brings. This world, where greed and selfishness are praised as good, where pride causes the comfort- able to cling tightly to “their stuff,” is threatened with resurrection, and the equitable sharing resurrection brings.
Few of us know the agony of hav- ing a loved one killed for their faith, but we and our loved ones have been harmed by others—called names, ostracized, discriminated against, harassed. This world, where hate runs deep and people say and do things to cause hurt, is threatened with resurrection, and the healing and restoration resurrection brings. This world, where hurts are carried for many years until they become deep bitterness and destructive pat- terns, is threatened with resurrec- tion, and the forgiveness resurrection brings.
All of us face the fact that we shall die, and death may appear to have the last word. This world, even as death is present everywhere both physically and spiritually, as despair floods lives with apathy and hope- lessness, is threatened with resur- rection, and the new life that resur- rection is. This world, where the wrong we have done causes us guilt and shame, leaving us burdened and broken by our actions, is threatened with resurrection, and the salvation
resurrection brings.
So with the church through all
time we proclaim the joyous news: Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
My service as Moderator of the 2017 General Assembly concludes in June and I thank the people of The Presbyterian Church in Canada for their support, encouragement and prayers. My prayer is that we all come to know “how marvelous it is to live threatened with Resurrection!”