Will you invest in a spectacular piece of textile art that will be seen by thousands of people? Our target is £6000. This exhibition is planned to tour major UK cathedrals from Summer 2016 onwards. We expect that more than a million visitors will see it in the first two years.
It will depict many of the images from the book of Revelation, and will give a lot of people a lot to look at and a lot to think about!
The panel you will be sponsoring proclaims the promise of “A New Heaven and A New Earth.”
The exhibition is called Revelation Threads. It’s a huge undertaking by Jacqui Parkinson, an artist based in Devon who uses textiles as her medium and whose previous work has been displayed in many cathedrals since 2006.
You can see some of the new completed panels by visiting www.revelation-threads.co.uk.
“I’m busily stitching my way through the whole book of Revelation – ten panels complete, four more to go. Each panel is three metres (10 ft) high and between one and three metres (4-10ft) wide. They’re painted and then stitched in wonderful brightly coloured silks, leathers and metallic gauzes. The final exhibition will be massive. It’s scheduled to tour major British cathedrals from the summer of 2016. I want it to raise questions of life and faith – death and judgement – resurrection – and of A New Heaven and A New Earth.”
“And that’s what the big story is all about:- a New Heaven and a New Earth, with pictures developing through the book of Revelation. This panel, will shows a great scene from chapter 14, which describes wonderful visions – and we can be part of this new Kingdom now – how exciting! “
“There’s a great WOW factor about Revelation, and I’m aiming to capture some of that for people of all kinds. WOW! is certainly the reaction we’re getting when we give people sneak previews of the work!”
“There have been generous sponsors for the first ten panels, but I thought it would be lovely to have this one sponsored by lots of different people – so here I am crowd funding! This is an open invitation to you to contribute, a little or a lot, and make a difference.”
“Revelation is the last book in the Bible. It was written by a man called John on the island of Patmos almost two thousand years ago, recording an extraordinary sequence of visions, some dead scary, some weird, and some exhilarating. His wonderful visions in Chapter 14 included a great crowd, which he describes as 144,000, although I’m sure he didn’t count them all!”
The numbers in Revelation are usually regarded as symbolic. In Chapter 7 John first sees the 144,000 together with “a great multitude, impossible to number, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne”. It’s a wonderful thought that such different people from all over the world will stand united.
“I cover my studio walls with all kinds of bits and pieces that will help me find solutions to difficult challenges! For this panel – A New Heaven and a New Earth – there’s a mountain with the Lamb (the symbol for Jesus), and three angels bringing messages of judgement and hope from God. The mountain itself is packed with people – not sure who they are – but they have lived their lives for Jesus. And the Holy Spirit says “Yes, well done!”
“The back of this panel will be covered with many, many people’s names – real people, friends and families. A symbol for today of the countless people standing before the throne of heaven.”
“You can be part of it. Everyone who pledges any amount, large or small, can have their name stitched on the back of the panel to join the multitude!”
“I would be so happy if you would like to share with me in this work by making a donation for the panel A New Heaven and A New Earth – any amount – thank you!”
If this appeal achieves more than its target, additional funds will be used towards the next panel in the series for the Revelation Threads exhibition.