~ God told me to be an artist, week 16.
Friday 24th March 2023.
But isn't Christian Art Boring? This is a question I've asked myself ever since I came back to the church. With creativity being a pillar of my existence I was concerned that somehow my faith would limit my artistic ability and expressions. When thinking about Christian art my mind is drawn to italic handwriting bible quotes on printed canvases or sentimental cards with floral decoupage. Now, don't get me wrong, theres a place for everything, and for some people these items may have great meaning or a special place in their homes.
But...and it's a big but, this can't be what my art making becomes, I thought. These things don't really speak to me. The Christian art I'd experienced isn't how I make at all. I felt concerned for quite a while that there wasn't a place for me or my work. The reason this all felt so important wasn't because I needed all my artwork to be overtly or demonstratively Christian, but as my identity was realigning to my faith it seemed to be affecting everything. Surely it couldn't be long until my art was touched also.
The question, what will my art become?, echoed repeatedly in my mind.
When I came back to the church in 2018, I didn't know much about Christian art? Everything I thought I knew was generally based on assumption. However, I think it's also what non-secular art forms I had seen in the secular world. From the ages of 18-28 I was not a Christian, but I'd seen some expressions of kingdom creativity that had made their way into the mainstream culture. I was aware of such art, but was not all that interested in it.
Due to my apathy I never went searching for what else was available in terms of 'christian art', I just dismissed what appeared on the surface. Honestly, I found it all a bit twee and ineffectual. I didn't see much use for it outside of faith communities, I couldn't see a its purpose when it came to the rest of us non-believers.
Of course this is just my opinion, not fact. Also, I think for many years before I was saved I was wrestling with the idea of faith and its place in my life, which undoubtedly affected how I viewed any religious or faith based things. However, isn't it true that if faith groups were exploring and utilising the power of visual arts to share the word of God we wouldn't need to do a deep dive in order to find decent or intriguing versions of it?
Think about it this way, we've all heard of Christian music. Theres a category in the Grammy's devoted to Gospel and Contemporary Christian Music! As the church we've seen throughout history the atmosphere and beauty that can be created for people to be introduced, experience and fall in love with Jesus. Music builds a new home and invites you to open the door, come in and take a seat. A seat that was built for you and has been waiting patiently for you it's entire life. Even if you don't believe in God, you can appreciate the mastery of the musicians creating such albums.
Churches, individuals, all kinds of musicians have formed bands, released singles, produced sell out tours and travelled around the world bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to the world through music. The Holy Spirit has been their guide and gifting of all styles and types has been used to glorify God. The contemporary Christian music scene is constantly evolving, with new albums and songs in multiple genres being released everyday.
Very cool.
It is undeniable there is something moving in this scene, and a clear hunger for its output.
Therefore my question to you is, why are the visual arts not utilised in the church at the same level?
Think about it, it's an interesting question. Of course there are some churches who do explore the visual arts in their gatherings, especially large scale conferences. But what is it about music being able to fill a 20,000 person stadium as well as the humble local church with 20 people attending? Why can't art be used on each scale also?
Why is music able to stand the test of variety, finding a role in every place even when only a few are gathered in his name [Matthew 18:20]? The first thing that springs to mind is, music has place in every service. It's something anyone can join in on, its atmospheric, powerful and connects the heavens to the earth. Even those who are persecuted for their faith can partake. Music provides an expression of faith that doesn't cost anything, can be concealed in a moment if danger arrives. It can be used and experienced anywhere by anyone.
So it makes sense the humungous reach that music has within the church right? Of course there are those who can explain its history and impact much better than I, but you get the gist.
To me it seems that like many other spaces and places, the visual arts are seen as a add-on, an optional extra. Moreover, only decorative. I love decor as much as anyone, and have a framed bible verse up in my house I will admit. But this can't be all Christian art is, can it?
Framed scripture in twirly fonts? Surely not.
I decided it couldn't be, so I did some digging. I found to my amazement that the Christian art story is a fascinating one. From it's limited use and functionality in the early church, to being created predominantly for the wealthy until the 4th century when Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. His conversion saw religious artwork extend beyond the rich and the centuries which followed saw the depiction of the trinity in texts and artworks, then the emergence of decorated objects. The debate surrounding iconography disrupted production of certain artworks over the years, but art always found a way, from precious metal objects to architectural design.
Any pause in production it seems was always resurrected. Christian art, and visual art made for the church was never wiped out. It always returned. I LOVE this echo to the overall Christian story.
Biblical themes adorning ceilings and artistic prayer books provided opportunity for new types of creative offerings to develop and reach people innovatively during the 12th & 13th centuries.
Following the depiction of Christ in Renaissance paintings in the 14th - 17th centuries, the 18th century saw a rise in leading artists reducing their output of religious imagery, this time in history saw artwork branch out in multiple directions with some remaining focused on the church and others deciding to explore elsewhere.
I was pleased to discover that one of my favourite artists, Henri Matisse produced pieces for church use during the 19th century although much of his focus was secular. Alas, I was less pleased to see that a large portion of what is described as current commercial Christian art is colour lithography, namely Christian cards.
Now, I love cards. I love sending notes to people and beautiful cards are a wonderful way to do that. However, that can't be all kingdom creatives are known for.
When you're part of a church you get to see a much bigger breadth of what artisans in the kingdom are doing, but isn't this the wrong way around?
On the outside looking in, most of what I could see creatively didn't really appeal to me. There wasn't a lot of variety presented to me and I found it all fairly uninspiring. That doesn't mean that it was, but can you see that without depth, breadth and variety of creative offerings coming out of the church we miss the opportunity to connect with more people. We miss more opportunities to invite people in a language or style that appeals to or intrigues them.
In this sense, our artistic output can be extremely effective outreach or at least a tool for better communication with the people that share the same world.
I don't have all the answers to how we can shift the landscape of Christian art, you may even disagree with what I've said, which is completely ok. I'm just feeling a bigger burden in my heart these days for representing God to people through the transformational power of the visual arts. To offer more people the opportunity to experience the atmosphere shifting possibilities of being immersed in creativity.
Imagine what we could do with an evolving and growing visual arts initiative across the world in our churches. A visual arts renaissance, in partnership with Jesus, pushing the boundaries of how we present the gospel to people?
Imagine if the visual arts could have the reach that music does?
Imagine it.
I'll finish with this. When the worship leader at my church asked me to be a part of a creative/ immersive exhibition he was planning for Good Friday I jumped at the chance. The conversations about what we could do and how we felt the Holy Spirit was talking to us were as if they had been plucked from my longing to see this happen and placed in my lap.
This felt like a piece of purpose, a role not to be taken lightly or to rule over, but rather one to allow the Spirit of God to anoint and work through. To put my hands to work for something much bigger than my creative practice or myself.
The image attached to this blog is the flyer for the Good Friday exhibition, designed my good friend and worship leader, Jack Ellison. I am honoured to be a part of it and may it mark the beginning of many more visual arts initiatives in the church that seek to encourage more than their congregations and to reach outside their doors.
Art as action.
Art as outreach.
Art as invitation.
Art as love.
Art has a role and significant place in the church and the body of Christ. I know it. I know God's nudging me about it.
Hallelujah, I'm excited to see where this leads.
Come to the exhibition if you want to experience a little bit of what I've been writing about. Penny Lane Church, 7th April, open 10am - 1pm.
See you next week, Catherine. x
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