Fragments of Light

Reflections Part 4

In his concluding remarks to the question, “What is the role of the contemporary artist today who happens to be a Christian?”, Mons. Verdon puts forth a challenge to artists: to be truly honest. A challenge which perhaps applies to all of us; as created beings we are each gifted with a spark of creativity.

“The Christian artist has to fight with himself or herself to allow that which is “more”, in order to allow the Lord who is in us, to express Himself. Artists will do so through the gift of creativity, the “more” God has given them. It is not as though God erases us and does it all by Himself. He does it through us and with us. We, the artists, are really doing it. “I live and yet it is not I alone who lives but Christ who lives through me.” So the artist’s creativity becomes His creativity. If He has given you artistic talent, He wants beauty of a kind you can create. But you need to let Him guide you. This in simplest terms means that you remain in a good dialogical relationship with Him, remaining in what used to be called a state of grace. In this way, you are in harmony with the possible with the Lord. And in more contemporary existential terms, it means really searching everyday to figure out what He is guiding you to express on a daily basis. This doesn’t mean that you should be only choosing to do Madonna paintings or the Crucifixion. It could mean doing the opposite. It could mean fabricating images that have nothing explicitly in connection with religious tradition. John Paul II in his letter to artists said that even works of art which seem very far from the Christian tradition can tell us something, if the artist is being truly honest.”

Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock

 

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