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“God wants us to experience life deeply and art is one way to help us do that,” says painter Makoto Fujimura. Spencer Burke drops in on Mako at his New York City art studio where he is working on what he calls a “hybrid” painting–a collision of heaven and earth. Mako describes how his painting explores what it might look and feel like for heaven to invade earth, just like we–as earthly beings–are invaded by the heavenly, by God. Mako says we are trained NOT to see and experience things. His desire is to draw people to see more. What’s true on canvass is more true in life, and the tension or conflict we feel through art–whether paintings or plays or other media–is good. If we allow ourselves to feel this tension, and to know conflict or sorrow or joy–then art can take us on an amazing adventure. The tension is that we all are consumers of culture because we live in this world. Sometimes the culture or the visual images are disturbing and we might want to divorce ourselves from our culture. Sometimes even the church urges us to cut ourselves off from this cultural conflict. But if we do, it is like we are going blind, and God doesn’t want us to be blind. So, this is an important role for art–to help us know and experience the reality of the world around us, and to wade into places we’ve never been before, living more deeply as spiritual beings where heaven can invade our earth.
Personal Reflection:
- How can I risk engagement with the arts to live more deeply on my spiritual journey?
- What’s the difference between a mistake and learning, versus sin and shame?
- How is heaven invading my earth this week?
Small Group or Staff Questions:
- How can I help my community see conflict or tension as a way to develop depth in life?
- How can we engage with art to expand our spiritual understanding, and expose our community to multiple points of view about tradition, culture and theology?
- Some may see art as “a pretty picture.” How has art broadened your vision, impacted your ministry?
Resources:
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April 7th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Spencer, Thanks so much for a great conversation with Mako. And thanks for making his book available. Hopefully many will be inspired by it. Keep up the great work and I am looking forward to the next installment.
Peace,
Rich
April 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Wow Dude- excellent perspective on how mistakes can actually become works of art. Thanks for taking the time to shoot this great conversation with a true artist that shares both visually and spiritually.
April 13th, 2009 at 4:07 am
Thanks so much for introducing me to this engaging & fascinating artist. The video came at just the right time for me as I was sensing Holy Spirit talking to me about expressing faith creatively rather than seeking to win arguments through rational theology. May the inspiration from these writings move me & others to respond to ideas we disagree with through greater creativity rather than polemic.
April 13th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
“the arts allow us distance from the impact of the reality …”
i like that phrase, from the video.
trauma treatment is more successful when the survivor can find healing through the right brain – the experiential, intuitive part of our experience. to only approach healing through the left brain – the verbal and factual recounting of the trauma, often found in therapy – can actually make the memory worse.
July 8th, 2009 at 6:29 am
This is good! Actually, I have been working to incorporate art in the lobby and other areas in our church. I would like to see if Makoto offers his work for sale. Any way I could get in touch with him? thanks
Greg
August 29th, 2009 at 12:00 am
[...] Get show notes here. [...]