In the Beginning, There Was Light

Description

In the Beginning, There Was Light
Artist: ArNoUx
Medium: Mixed media — plaster, fabric, acrylic paint, and light
Dimensions: Approximately 5 in. high × 8 in. diameter
Form: Sculptural illuminated vessel / mixed-media object
Curatorial Statement
In the Beginning, There Was Light is a sculptural meditation on creation, divine presence, and the mystery of light emerging from darkness.
The rounded vessel is built through layers of fabric and plaster, then painted with acrylic, creating an irregular, fractured surface. When illuminated from within, the fissures become channels of light. What first appears heavy, dark, and almost geological is transformed by the internal glow.
The work evokes the first moments of creation described in Genesis, when light enters primordial darkness:
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
— Genesis 1:3
At the same time, the piece connects that act of creation with the opening of the Gospel of John:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
— John 1:1
The illuminated fractures suggest that divine light does not simply rest upon the surface; it comes from within, escaping through wounds, divisions, and imperfections. Darkness becomes the structure through which light is made visible.
Its organic, almost earthen form recalls the natural world at its beginning—rock, soil, seed, planet, womb. The circular shape reinforces ideas of origin, eternity, and continuity, while the warm internal illumination introduces a sense of spiritual life.
Rather than presenting creation as something distant or completed, ArNoUx transforms Genesis into a living visual experience: darkness surrounds the object, but it cannot contain the light.
Concept
The sculpture speaks about God as origin, Word, creation, and light. The cracked exterior represents the material world—fragile, imperfect, and temporal—while the luminous interior becomes a metaphor for the eternal presence of God.
The work ultimately proposes a simple spiritual idea:
Before form, before matter, and before human history, there was God—and from God came light.