This mobile of ten paintings on silk was commissioned by New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 2016 for the student gathering space. The paintings spiral upward, suspended from a painted ring, create inviting and dynamic color. The mobile measures 10 feet high by 4 feet wide, with individual panels suspended using swivels so each can turn independently with air currents.

The project began with meetings with Dr. Gregg Mast, president of the seminary and Dr. Willard Ashley, dean, to discuss their vision for the seminary space and to look over portfolio samples. Dr. Mast discussed iconography and importance to him of the Celtic “thin places” where the boundary to eternity is thin. In the artistic design process, the idea for a kinetic mobile of paintings on silk expressing “Jacob's Ladder” came into focus and was approved.

The piece is named after a biblical story in which Jacob is traveling and, as night falls, he takes a stone for a pillow and falls asleep. He has a dream that begins with a ladder stretching between earth and heaven with angels ascending and descending. This dream inspired the vertical spiral of suspended paintings, with an allusion to the “thin places” that can show up when we least expect it.