“The Invitation: a prelude to The Maze”

20’x8’ mural + resin letters

This mural serves as an official invitation to embark on a new journey. I’m in the process of making a fully-functioning + immersive/experiential maze which will exist in the @latechsod building in Ruston, LA. “The Maze” will have multiple pathways throughout the School of Design building- all leading to the heart (the center) of the Maze. Each pathway will reveal hints + clues along the way to guide you to the heart.

In the weeks to come, more clues + messages will appear in the School of Design (FJ Taylor Visual Arts Center); all of which will be written upside down.

The overarching concept of this work (The Invitation + The Maze) is the announcement of the (upside down) kingdom of heaven, revealed in the four accounts of the Gospel in the New Testament. I have chosen to create these works specifically in reference to the Gospel according to Matthew, because Matthew’s account of Jesus’s life is written to highlight Jesus’s origins, continuously explaining how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament + the true LORD of all.

“The Maze” will be proclaiming the same messages Jesus taught whenever He began His ministry, announcing that the kingdom of God is here on earth (it arrived with Him). These messages Jesus taught of the upside down kingdom were (and still are!) so counterintuitive, shocking, and ultimately serve as an invitation to follow Him.

To those who are poor in spirit, to those who mourn, to the humble, to those who hunger + thirst for the truth, to those who are merciful, to those who are pure in heart, to the peacemakers, to those who are persecuted for doing what is right, to you who are insulted + when others falsely say evil things against you because of [your association with] Jesus:

“Be glad and exceedingly joyful, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” MATTHEW 5:12