Artist:
Ken Valimaki
8580 Woodlands Court
Pickerington, Ohio 43147
614-866-1851

Project:
Cross and Baptismal Font
Linworth United Methodist Church
Columbus, Ohio

Architect: Wandel and Schnell Architects, Columbus, Ohio

The baptismal font was also created using bronze with mirrored surfaces and patinas. The simplicity of the baptismal font suggests cleansing, purity and hope. Like the cross, colored blown glass is part of the piece. The glass is symbolic of jewels that represent the preciousness of God and may also suggest the importance between God and his congregation.

The bowl of the baptismal font is three feet in diameter and is supported by a clustering of bronze strips. Moving water, which suggests life, is integral to the structure. A six-foot standing bronze form holds the entire piece together.

This project began with an understanding that as works of art, the cross and baptismal font would complement and enhance the unique, contemporary architectural space. Bronze was selected because of its warmth and contrast to the interior space of the church. The 12-foot cross is suspended and consists of strips of bronze with patina and mirrored surfaces. Blown pieces of colored glass are part of the cross.

A special quality of the cross is achieved because you can look through it. Looking at the cross suggests more than one cross. The placement and clustering of forms allows everyone in the sanctuary to see the cross, yet people will see a different image at different times. One church member wrote: "Every time I see the cross I see a different image; always a cross, but different ones - crosses within crosses, Tau crosses, Gothic crosses, Latin crosses, Jerusalem crosses - they are all there."

Jury: A cross within crosses gives way to the visible within the invisible. This is a successful execution of the fine line between the material and the spiritual, the creative and the contrived. It holds a Byzantine quality without being Byzantine. The use of bronze and glass normally perceived as static entities gives birth to life, movement and mystery. The jeweled cross symbolically adds to the setting, communicating the victory of Christ and the beauty of His congregation!

Baptismal font: A magnificent sign of resurrection and rebirth, this majestic baptismal font is fully viewed from interior and exterior as a beacon of life. The use of moving rather than static water creates an anticipation of the changes we experience in our daily lives of birth and rebirth. The use of simple geometric fomrs is shattered by the cantilevered sum of the parts. Truly extraordinary.