On View: Selections from Portraits of the Self - Members of The Artists Registry. Top: Looking for Emily, Paint and Ink on Wood, by Emily Herr, 2007; Left, Portrait of the Artist in New Hampshire, Oil in Wood, by Erin McGee Ferrell, 2007; Right, Nativity, Digital Painting, by Luis Coelho, 2007.

PORTRAITS OF THE SELF
The concept of self-portraiture opens up a wide array of contradictions.

From the introspective nature of self-conception, to the outward-looking nature of creating visual art, from revealing to concealing identity, self-portraiture is characterized by persistent contradiction. Honesty and deceit each play their part in facing the Self with its deep hidden truths, and in sharing these personal discoveries with others.

Displaying one’s Self to a viewing public presents risk and demands courage; and yet in the face of these fears the philosopher Hans-George Gadamer reminds us that self-presentation is the nature of play.

Identity is itself full of contradiction. The tension between body and spirit is no stranger to Christian dialogue. Identity is always constant and in flux. Self-discovery is a changing process, and carries its own elements of surprise and compromise. The struggle to find fitting symbols for human identity has always been problematic, and confirms that there is no perfect metaphor. But the challenge of symbolizing one’s own persona in visual art is at least as difficult a task. The artist who refers to linseed oil, threaded quilt, or stroboscopic pixels as a metaphoric extension of their personal identity introduces complexity, and further contradiction.

The artists in this exhibit present themselves within a wide range of interpretations. There are those interpretations that resemble the physical likeness of the artist, and we are quick to identify these as self-portraits. Others subordinate identity to the language of design, reminding us that a self-portrait is a glimpse of the Self injected into the world of visual dynamics, with all the peculiarities of the visual language and the limitations of a medium. Some of these symbols surprise us, and remind us just how private self-conception can be.

Even with our common humanity and faith, the many concepts we have of ourselves continue to be surprisingly diverse. The entries in this exhibit display the Self in various times, aspects, and situations. Many of these portraits deal with themes of pain, grief, fear, and irony that are a natural part of life, death, and growth. Together they embody the Christian message of faith and perseverance in the face of baffling contradiction––including that of the Self, which finds poetic expression through visual metaphor in this exhibit.

David C. Hancock, Curator
Portraits of the Self, Members of The Artists Registry
An Exhibition of Episcopal Church and Visual Arts

David C. Hancock is a contemporary painter whose work is grounded in the classical tradition and the study of the old masters. Hancock studied painting in Italy for three years before obtaining a diploma in painting from the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto and a B.A. in philosophy from Wheaton College.
Hancock’s work addresses themes of faith and philosophy from a contemporary perspective. As such, Hancock’s art is both challenging and educational; his paintings have been employed in schools, churches, and homes for meditation and the study, and have recently been adopted into the Jewish studies curriculum at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In addition to painting, Hancock is an inspired teacher. He frequently conducts workshops for adults and underprivileged children, and remains active in academic scholarship. Hancock views art making and teaching as opportunities to share ideas and inspiration. He currently lives in Kansas City with his wife Cindy. Visit his website at www.DavidCHancock.com

Shortly after 2001, I visited an Iconography Exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and was struck by this description, “Icons were a source of comfort to a nation besieged.” I had been struggling with my work and pondered, “Is my art a source of comfort to anyone?”

This led me to explore a tradition/process of painting heretofore unknown to me, the world of iconography; a direct contrast to my Western European oriented training and individualistic leanings (which often led me more to the Vermeer side of the museum and, I might add, still do.) But to know who we are, especially in such times where misunderstanding is rampant between one side of the globe and the other, it is important to discover that which we do not know…

The two works above are both the outcome of such exploration. One looks back to the 6th century CE and the other speaks to the imagery of today and the future. The Sinai Christ Pantocrator , painted while on a workshop at Kanuga Camp Conferences in Fall 2008 with teacher Teresa Harrison, is created using acrylic pigments and gold-leaf. Like most icons, it is composed of a multitude of thin washes or layers of color one atop the other, and the outcome is a very flat, deliberately non-textured surface. Pale-Male: A Pilgrimage is painted using a digital palette of over 16 million colors which is then output not to a sanded board (like a traditional icon) but to an interconnected zone of ether that compresses thousands of layers into an ephemeral moment that can only be described as immaterial… the flattest of the flat. Going even further, this digital galaxy extends the parameters of the traditional icon, (which can be copied and shared in finite increments) to one that can be shared in the global sense… i.e, infinitely, or wherever anyone cares to plug-in.

There are many opportunities and challenges for artists to explore in today’s digital universe. Like the novelists and poets who shaped meaning from a democracy of words after the evolution of the Guttenberg Press, we find ourselves in an analogous world, however one where imagery is the new rising language. I would argue that the calling for today’s artist is to bring meaning and understanding to that world of visual information, loading our brush with media, intelligence and compassion. ~ by Roz Dimon

Roz Dimon is the Manager of Communications for St. Bart’s Episcopal Church in New York City. Visit her on the web here>

We hear about 'The Intentional Life,' one lived with active intention, but how do we bring that forth into a living reality? Nancy Roth's new book Grounded in Love: Ecology, Faith, and Action offers guidance. Phyllis Tickle has said about this new book, "Roth's gentle commentary and elegant passion entice us to a one-ness with creation and each other that is both active and rooted in faith."

Here's an excerpt from Grounded in Love: Ecology, Faith, and Action:
"Will our grandchildren's lives be made fearful by wars waged for the sake of diminishing supplies of oil or for the even more necessary resource of clean water? Will economic and social injustice cause ever more instability in the world? Will arrogance and fanaticism continue to breed terrorism? Will these grandchildren of ours be able to remain healthy, despite the toxins that they probably have already absorbed?

"How best could I begin to contribute in at least a small way to a future world in which all human beings, from infants to the aged, might flourish? And where was God in this endeavor? I knew the answer, and have known it, in fact, for a long time, because I have been thinking about these issues for many years. I laid the groundwork in my volume Organic Prayer and in a few articles in religious journals. The gestation period for this book was long and full, and included sitting as an adult student in two environmental studies courses at Oberlin College. But it is the grandchildren who have provided me with the passion and the energy to fit the writing of Grounded in Love into my busy life."
~ by Nancy Roth

Here's a review from Grounded in Love: Ecology, Faith, and Action:
"This immensely alluring book is a spiritual invitation into a deeper experience of intentional life. I hope many people will join Nancy on this journey into the soul and spirit of conscious universe."—The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, President and Dean, Episcopal Divinity School.

Author Nancy Roth is an Episcopal priest, retreat leader, author, dancer, and musician.

On View: Renarayama, cover image for Grounded in Love: Ecology, Faith, and Action by Diane Walker. Diane is a frequent contributor to the Art Blog at Episcopal Cafe. You can see more of Diane's work at her website: http://woodenhue.blogspot.com/

The Artist and the Church
Liturgical glass, if it is to be successful, is faithful to both the vision of the local church and to the interpretive gifts of a specific artist. The process is collaborative, with artist and church sharing in the creation of a work intended to glorify God, support worship, and give voice to the church community’s unique character.

For the content of a large window illuminating a chapel adjacent to the primary worship space, St. Helen Catholic Church in Pearland, Texas had an unusual request. They asked their glass artist, Stephen A. Wilson, to create a visual meditation on the parish’s history and community identity. With regard to form, there was a requirement as well. The church specified a predominance of greens, which would complement the more traditional blues and reds desired for Eucharist and Resurrection-themed windows in the nave and narthex.

The Light and Beauty of God
Wilson approached the work in keeping with his fundamental philosophy: every window is to be a jewel—a shimmering screen of carefully handled color, transparency, and line that, even aside from the presence of iconography, will help the viewer experience the light and beauty of God. This is, after all, the underlying symbolism of all stained glass, that God is light. The specifics follow. Imagery is developed from scripture, tradition, and local culture and arranged to express layers of meaning edifying to the parish and complementary to the architectural context.

To address the parish’s history, Wilson requested architectural elevations of the four buildings the church had worshiped in during its 50 year existence. These he superimposed along a single vertical axis to illustrate the church’s upward and outward physical expansion. Then he aligned, along the same vertical axis, a tree—a pear tree—an image rich with universal and scriptural resonances, and at the same time the traditional emblem of Pearland’s agricultural, orchard community. The tree also provided, of course, an appropriate vehicle for the requested greens. Below the tree Wilson arranged seven pears, reminders both of the seven gifts of the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Modulations in the greens, yellows, and surrounding blues, purples, pinks, and ambers delineated architectural elements while providing the jewel-like splendor of the artist’s vision. The result was a visual meditation on the light of God entering the chapel and on the church’s spiritual growth, which has accompanied its numerical growth, and which will guide it into its future in this Texas community.

Serving God and God's Church
The creative process represents opportunity and risk for both church and artist. Can God and God’s church be well-served by such human and finite work? And in this case, how would this faith community respond to this unusual expression of its particular identity? Answers are not black and white. Yet the pride with which parishioners refer to the work and share it with visitors, the prominence of the window in the masthead of the church’s website, and the artist’s own enjoyment in exploring color and interpreting a theme unusual in liturgical art suggest that the collaboration was a success. ~ Cynthia Meyer

On View
Title: The Bride of Christ
Setting: Day Chapel, St. Helen Catholic Church, Pearland, Texas
Date: 2005
Designer: Stephen A. Wilson
Fabrication: Stephen Wilson Stained Glass of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Materials: Mouth-blown European and domestic stained glass
Dimensions: The window is 16’ high and 18’ wide
Photography: Cynthia Meyer
Essay: Cynthia F. Meyer, MA PhD

A Visual Path through the Seasons
A Banner Year - Washington National Cathedral
Text by Carol Wade; art by Nancy Chinn
On View, left to right, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent.

Each time we journey through the church year we are different. Over time the seasons transform us. As we pass through each day, each season, the end of one journey positions us to step into the beginning of the next. The seasons of this calendar allow us to return again and again to the expectancy of Advent or the solemnity of Lent, to reconsider our lives and the way in which we are living them.

The patterns of the church year allow us to see afresh the new things God is working in us and in our world. The sequence of the seasons organizes our journey, yet in some ways we live all the seasons at all times. We are always waiting in hope, always called to take our light into the world, always summoned to spend time in self-reflection. We are forever engaged in an act of new creation. We are repeatedly invited to celebrate the diversity of our gifts and to work on behalf of God’s reign.

Art is an Act of Bold Proclamation
In 2007, Washington National Cathedral commissioned a banner series of great beauty and power from renowned liturgical artist Nancy Chinn. Originally painted in acrylic, the banners have were digitally enlarged to four feet by twenty feet and installed for the Centennial year on successive pillars in the nave and transepts.

The cyclical nature of the seasons is depicted through the fundamental image of the circle. Repeating circular patterns are used in different ways to communicate different themes. The circle represents the work of the divine. It connotes birth and completion, the movement of the Spirit, the light of Christ, and the world opening up to the glory of God. - Carol Wade

Download the full-color booklet ‘A Banner Year’ in PDF format here >
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About the Author and Artist
The Rev. Canon Carol L Wade is Canon Precentor at the Washington National Cathedral. Canon Wade received her Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees from Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and her Diploma in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.

Nancy Chinn has created commissioned liturgical installations for Grace Cathedral and more than 500 other sites. Her art has been featured in national conferences, churches, cathedrals, and outdoor installations. Chinn holds a B.A. in Education from Lewis and Clark College; M.A. from San Francisco State College and M.F.A. in Fibers and Mixed Media from John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA. Visit her online at nancychinn.com