According to Their Own Language

Media: Assemblage

Type: Free Standing

Dimensions: 11.5 x 20.5 x 4.5

This piece is based on a scripture in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 31 verse 2, “…For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speakers unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.” I build this bonsai tree and decided to go out on a limb and use people as the leaves of the tree. The tree stems from the same roots, and has many branches which is like the human family, I believe we are all children of God, diverse as we may be in our experiences and views of the world around us. We all come from the same stock. So the tree is full of color, I’ve included colors of some of the major country’s flags around the world, colors of skin, colors representing LGBTQIA+ people. We are all different and diverse represented by different race, ethnicities, cultures, religions, sexualities, etc… but we are all the same as well. The building at the top is reminiscent of the House of God and represents the idea that God is over all of us, we are all his children, but being diverse, we each hear him in different ways so He speaks to us in different ways through different traditions and in the ways that we each hear him and understand Him.