I saw myself in the painting, crouched in the cleft of the rock lashed by the storm. I hear the waves crashing against the cliff, and the waters thundering through my head. 

I heard God whisper above the roar of the tempest: Hide in me; you are safe.

The painting now hangs above my bed. It is a sweet reminder from God that I can sleep soundly in a storm.

This is the mission of Sound of Art, to help people encounter God through art and to deliver a message from Him.

“Hide in me; you are safe” was the message I received from Resolute by Erica Wee.

“Art is visual but it also speaks a message from God,” said Galven Lee, 34, Co-founder and Director of Sound of Art. “We want people to hear the sound of heaven – the sound from God – when they look at our art.”

Sound of Art began with the chance meeting of Georgie and his art teacher Steve Teo from the 1960s at St Andrew’s Primary School.

Founder Georgie Lee heard the sound of his old teacher’s voice while having dinner at a restaurant one night in 2005 with his family, reconnected with him and commissioned the artist to create paintings for their newly renovated home. His criteria: The paintings must be eye-catching to guests at their home; they must be based on the Bible; guests must sense the presence of God and receive a spiritual experience; and those looking at the paintings must receive a revelation, message or word from God. 

Steve, who had turned away from God prior to reconnecting with Georgie, renewed his faith at an Alpha weekend with Georgie and his friends.

To conceptualise the commissioned paintings, Steve secluded himself in a Bali beach house for a few months and studied the Bible cover to cover with the help of a bishop. The artist was so captivated by the Word, he came back with spiritual vigour and a proposal for a trilogy of paintings that captured the essence of Genesis, the Gospel and Revelation. 

These paintings now hang in the Lee family home and have become a conversation starter and means to share the Gospel with guests.

Genesis and the Gospel are two of the trilogy of paintings by Steve Teo. They have become conversation starters for visitors in the Lee family home.

From this incident, the Lees realised that art can be used to share the Good News and help people connect with God.  

The family also concluded that art can minister to the artist himself, in this case, Steve. This became the inspiration for them to establish a platform that would allow Christian and aspiring artists to hone their skills, flourish and share the Word of God. 

The vision was realised after 10 years with the creation of Sound of Art in February 2020.

A month later, the world was crippled by the Covid-19 virus and Singapore went into lockdown.

Faithful to the vision

The pandemic scuppered all plans for an official launch of Sound of Art, forcing the family to regroup.

A friend connected them to some artists who wanted to contribute their art to raise funds for those struggling amidst the crisis. Sound of Art pivoted their launch plans and kicked off a Covid fundraiser with the artists instead.

Once the company went down that route, God took over.

YMCA, one of the beneficiaries of the fundraiser, pitched the story to The Straits Times and there was suddenly a half-page spread in the national paper featuring the campaign.

“For us, coming from nowhere with no brand and no recognition, it was exciting when God completely flipped our plans and gave us something better than the opening launch we had planned, while providing for many who needed the funds during Covid,” said Galven. 

Through the unexpected publicity from the article, the remaining paintings from that fundraiser were not only sold out but oversold. The fundraiser also brought in commissions for additional works, which also went to charity.

“God was encouraging us that if we were faithful to the vision He had given us, He would take care of whatever we needed,” Galven told Salt&Light.

Subsequently, God also provided a permanent home for the art at i12 Katong mall, in a culturally vibrant neighbourhood. It was the right place, the right time, the right partner, Galven said.

God provided a permanent home at i12 mall for Sound of Art in a culturally vibrant neighbourhood.

The Lees have always been strong believers in expressing the Kingdom of God in the marketplace through different types of businesses or ventures, Galven said.

Last Christmas, Sound of Art rolled out an art event at the mall to bring “a taste of heaven” through arts and culture. The exhibition of 20 art pieces centring on Christmas and Christ ran concurrently with music and performances for five full days up to Christmas day.

Galven and his wife, Alice, who held down full-time jobs while running Sound of Art, pushed ahead with the event despite resource and time constraints because “Christmas is one of the a few seasons when Christians are allowed to, and even expected to, talk about Christmas and about faith and Christ”.

In one of the activities, visitors were invited to select artworks that resonated with them. The facilitator then used the selected piece to open up communication with, and offer encouragement to, the visitor. The conversations often veered to family, loved ones and life struggles.

In several instances, the visitor was greatly touched and inspired, sometimes even moved to tears. Some came to Christ at the art event, and many others received prayers for healing.  

Sound of Art also collaborated with cancer survivor Tracy Quah a few years ago to use art to touch the community and raise almost $70,000 for HCA Hospice Care.

Messages from Heaven

Art can carry God’s messages to His people, pointed out Galven.

Zechariah 1:20 talks about the four craftsmen throwing down the four horns of satanic forces pulling apart the people of God and causing disarray in the world. The Hebrew word for craftsman refers to skilled artisans.

“What I gather from this passage is that, in many cases, the people who are actually fighting against Satan may not necessarily be fighting in familiar ‘churchy’ ways but through the skills of the hands that God gives us,” Galven mused.

“So, whether one is in business, or in the arts of painting and writing, the skills are given by God to war against Satan.

“Because of that, it is critical we have Christians who are great in their field,” he added.

Christians reaching the top level in their field have a wider reach to convey Kingdom values and point people towards God.

Erica Wee, 52, connected with Sound of Art during the Covid pandemic. Erica had picked up the paint brush to put to canvas verses that gave her solace and comfort in the midst of rising death tolls around the world.

When she ran out of room in her home to store the pieces, she decided to give away her art to charity and chanced on the Covid art fundraiser by Sound of Art.

“The idea of using art to open a conversation and point to Christ resonated with me,” Erica said. “Galven personally delivers the pieces so he can share the Gospel. It is his gifting – he does it without fail.”

Erica is now one of the artists represented by Sound of Art.

“When I see how God worked through Sound of Art, I am amazed,” she enthused. “I could paint what I thought was one message but the viewer could hear a totally different one that convicted their heart and turned them around. This is the Holy Spirit and a living God behind the scenes.”

“Out of Darkness” by Erica Wee denotes the end of a dark, turbulent period for the client.

One of Erica’s pieces “Out of Darkness”, depicting the courage and bravery of stepping out from the dark times of the Covid crisis with faith, determination and strength, had a different meaning for Jeremiah*, 55. (*Not his real name)

Jeremiah, former head of a multinational company, was laid off from his job and started working in his father’s business.

The conflict and disappointments as they worked together fractured the father-son relationship.

On top of that, the lack of salary during those years threw Jeremiah into financial hardship. He struggled to forgive his father, struggled to adjust to a new lifestyle and struggled to secure new employment in a career slump.

Over the next few years, God brought a buyer for his father’s business, healing to the relationship and eventually a new vocation with the money from the sale of the business. It was during that time he came across Erica’s painting, “Out of Darkness”, in the Covid fundraising campaign.

From the painting, he received the message: Your life is emerging from the turbulence, heading into a steady flight path and is ready to take off roaring like a lion stepping out the darkness.

For Jeremiah, it was the denouement of the last 10 years of struggle in his life.

“I bought the painting before it went to press, after which it attracted lots of interest,” Jeremiah said. “I felt God was reserving it just for me.”

A reminder of God’s promises

Like Erica, Swasti Wonowidjojo, 38, started painting during Covid to document the verses that encouraged her. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2015, Swasti started attending church and writing down the verses, which evolved into paintings during Covid.

“The paintings reminded me of God’s promises and played an important role in my healing journey,” Swasti said. One of her favourite paintings, “Seeds of Hope”, is one of Jesus blowing bubbles with dandelions suspended inside. Based on Ephesians 1:18, it spoke to her of the hope that was with her during a deep valley in her life.

“Seeds of Hope” by Swasti Wonowidjojo reminded the artist of the hope in Christ during a deep valley in her life.

Ahead of the Christmas event last year, one of Swasti’s paintings, “The Little Boy’s Lunch”, gave Galven and his wife, Alice, much-needed assurance from God that He would multiply the fruit of their effort – no matter how daunting the task – if they brought Him their five loaves and two fishes.

And He did, through the partnership of the 70 volunteers from Cornerstone Community Church and Soakability at the Christmas event. 

To promote the development of artists, Sound of Art founded the SOA-Paulette Lee Talent Development Programme in memory of Paulette Lee, a family member of the founders.

The first recipient of the award, which supports talented emerging artists financially as well as with mentorship, was Mongolian artist Byambajargal. Sound of Art hopes to award a second recipient next year.  

The ultimate desire for Sound of Art, said Galven, is that art, in its many forms, would be able to speak a word from God so strongly that one day people would be overcome by the knowledge of God, like “the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

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