Artist: Emilie Buck Lewis
Title: Hagar's Prayer
Media: Original Acrylic and Oil on mdf
Size: 12x9" (Height x Width)
 
Artist Statement: 
In Genesis 16, Hagar, an enslaved Egyptian servant, has run away from Sarai. Sarai, who decided to give Hagar to Abram so that he could have an heir, had treated Hagar harshly and she chose to run away. While gone from the couple Hagar has a vision where I believe she sees not an angel, but God. Hagar names God, “The God who sees me.” She is the first person in scripture to be visited by a heavenly being–which is often interpreted as an angel–yet Hagar’s own words are, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” What can we learn from this story of a woman who was valued the least among humans being the first person in our scripture to see God?