Story Behind Recreated Graphic Art

From the Artist, Leah Bankson…

“I was really inspired by the lines, “You promised me, your light the only mirror I’ll need” and “So I take the mirror off the wall and let you win the war”. God really used this whole process to remind me of who He is. It was so incredible to realize that for the light of the sun to be reflected, instead of my own image, the mirror must be taken off the wall and laid down. When I figured that out, the result was blindingly brilliant light streaming up from the mirror!! I had to wear sunglasses while I took the pictures:).  My first thought when I decided to try taking picture of a mirror, was a cracked old vintage mirror, to symbolize that it has no power anymore. But somehow that idea seemed so off. A broken mirror doesn’t communicate recreation or transformation, it communicates destruction. So this got me thinking, what is it about an image of a broken mirror that seems like taboo or a violation of sorts? I think it’s because this is not God’s heart. He didn’t come to break us but to bind up the broken hearted, His plan isn’t to destroy but to transform and recreate. Like this mirror, we ourselves do not change, however, our purpose changes completely. Instead of reflecting our own pitiful image that yields no light, we are to lay down our own image so that sun may be reflected in us. How much more glorious is that! We get to be filled with light and beauty, but only when we are laying on the ground not hung up nicely on a wall.”

- Leah Bankson (sophomore at the U of M)

(Leah is a student at the U of M that I met when she was a freshman in the dorms last year)

Thank you, Leah!  This is such a powerful image!