| Introduction |
Hanna Varghese |
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| Hanna Cheriyan Varghese of Selangor, Malaysia, was the artist in residence at OMSC for the 2006 - 2007 academic year. She has been painting for many years and her work has been exhibited in Hong Kong, Japan, India, Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka, South Korea, and the Philippines. She is a past recipient of grants from the China Christian Art Association (CCAA) and the Asian Christian Art Association (ACAA). She is currently the coordinator of the Malaysian Christian Artists' Fellowship and a council member of ACAA. Hanna was born to Christian parents, and she remembers her mother taking her to a different worship service every week. Her mother told her that worship must always remain fluid in a Muslim-dominated nation so as not to attract too much attention. Much has changed since then, Hanna admits, and things are much better for the Christian minority in Malaysia. But, Christians there are still regarded as second-class citizens. As a result, along with thousands of other Christians in Malaysia, she continues to struggle for her Christian identity in a Muslim culture. Hanna began work on Christian themes after being inspired by the art of Asian Christians in early issues of Image: Christ and Art in Asia, a publication of the Asian Christian Art Association. For many years, as a full-time wife and mother, she was unable to devote a great deal of time to developing her talent. Nonetheless, there were opportunities to nurture her artistic gifts and she began creating art for publications as well as posters for churches and Christian organizations. Later, however, Hanna began to devote more time to art, creating paintings that would be shown at art exhibitions and conferences around the world. Of her work, she says, "When I see one image that I worked on being used by a publisher or presented in a workshop/seminar/Bible study, I know it is my one drop of contribution to Christian ministry. We are all here to be a blessing to others." During her stay in New Haven, Hanna's work was exhibited at the City-Wide Open Studios event, the Yale Institute of Sacred Music at Yale Divinity School, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. A color monograph of her work will be published soon by OMSC, and will be available through the OMSC bookstore. |