Monstrance

St Mary of the Angels

2025

Air Dry Clay with metallic leaf gilding

acrylic support and stand

1100mm (HT) x 400mm (W) x 400mm (D)

A Reflection on the Burning Bush and the Canticle of Creatures

The Monstrance artwork evokes the mystery of the burning bush through three intertwining flames, with the Eucharist at its heart. Beneath it, a vine entwines with the fire, symbolizing the tree of life and pointing to the Eucharist as the fruit of the vine. This visual recalls the account in Exodus, where God speaks to Moses from the heart of a fire that burns but does not consume the bush, a paradox of divine holiness and sustaining grace.

This imagery resonates with The Canticle of Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi, in which creation is praised as kin: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, and Sister Mother Earth. St. Francis invites us into a relationship of reverent kinship, where humanity is not master but steward, called to collaborate with creation in glorifying God.

In the artwork, the flames represent divine presence, while the vine signifies the life-giving bond between God and creation. Together, they abstractly embody the spirit of the Canticle and the mystery of the burning bush, inviting contemplation of God’s immanence in the world and our sacred responsibility to care for it.