Receiving Grace, Balinese Healer-Priestess, Indonesia
Artist
Elisabeth Sunday
(American, b. 1958)
CultureAmerican
Date1995
MediumGold toned gelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 20 5/8 × 16 1/4 in. (52.4 × 41.3 cm)
Overall, Support: 23 13/16 × 19 1/2 in. (60.5 × 49.5 cm)
Overall, Mat: 30 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 cm)
Overall, Support: 23 13/16 × 19 1/2 in. (60.5 × 49.5 cm)
Overall, Mat: 30 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated on verso
Credit LineGift of Christina and George M. Kemp and Robin M. N. and Steven R. Jones
Object number2005.15.1
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a gold-toned gelatin silver print of a a spiritual leader, Manku Gunung Sari, from Indonesia. The print elongates the subject's white clothing; her elbows are bent at her waist as she faces her palms upward, parallel to the ground and sky. Her eyes appear closed, as if in reflection.Label TextElisabeth Sunday American (b. 1958) Receiving Grace, Balinese-Healer Priestess, Indonesia, 1995 From the Portfolio, Mystics and Healers, Holy People and Their Messages Gold toned gelatin silver print, 1997 Gift of Christina and George M. Kemp and Robin M. N. and Steven R. Jones 2005.15.1 I teach people how to pray and set up their altars. To begin meditation and prayer, first prepare your altar with incense and flowers. The incense sweetens the air and invokes the presence of God. The flowers are the offering you make to express gratitude to the Divine process. Pray with love and all your heart and God will always hear you. In meditation, after you've closed your eyes for a while, you may want to open your hands to bring in the light of the Divine that invisibly showers the Earth. Fill yourself with this light and be guided through your life. Manku Gunung Sari Elisabeth Sunday is an important contemporary artist whose work is unique in the photographic world. She specializes in photographing indigenous tribal cultures and through an interpreter, records their spiritual beliefs. Using a flexible, plexiglas-mounted mirror, Sunday manipulates and photographs the reflected images of her subjects. In an uncanny way the images tend to echo the spiritual beliefs of these people. Sunday has pursued this work for more than twenty years, extensively photographing people in such diverse locations as Africa, India, Indonesia, Australia, Bali, and Thailand. Many of the people she has photographed have welcomed her back on subsequent visits, acknowledging their approval of her depictions of them. Although Sunday is African-American her quest to photograph these indigenous cultures is not simply a search for her African roots. It is a search for the basis of all human spirituality. By our high-tech world standards we may refer to many of her subjects as coming from primitive cultures with quaint spiritual beliefs. Regardless, we should respect their beliefs as we must respect the beliefs of persons from all religious persuasions. Edited By: DS Edited Date: 2006 Approved By: DS Approval Date: 01/31/2007ProvenanceGift of Christina and George M. Kemp and Robin M. N. and Steven R. Jones to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005. Published ReferencesTeresa Annas, "Photographer reflects ethereal view of subjects," _The Virginian-Pilot_ (Saturday, March 27, 2004): E1, E2.
