Hey friends, before we dive into today's conversation, I wanted to share something with you. If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you know we believe Christianity is bigger on the inside, that faith and imagination and beauty all belong together. Well, that vision doesn't just happen by accident. It is sustained by people who have experienced this fuller Christianity and want others to
discover it too. Right now we are looking for monthly partners who can help us set more tables so to speak, bring more people together to go deeper together and Kee creating content like what you're about to hear. If you become a monthly partner at any level, even just 10 or $15.00 a month, we will send you the complete video recordings from our recent fall retreat. That is 6 hours of content from Amy Lee, Lancia Smith, Grace Hammond and more that you can't
get anywhere else. Check the show notes for the link or just go to anselmsociety.org/fallgiving. Thanks for listening and thanks for helping make this work possible. Now let's dive in. Hello everyone, welcome back to the Imagination Redeemed podcast. I'm Brian Brown, your host. Earlier this summer, the Anselm Society had the privilege of hosting internationally acclaimed artist Josh Thiessen for an event at the historic Peel House here in Colorado Springs. Josh creates what he calls
narrative hyper surrealism. These are incredibly detailed oil paintings that can take up to 1700 hours to complete. But Josh isn't just a master Craftsman. He's also a thoughtful theologian who sees his studio practice as a form of contemplative stewardship. That evening, Josh shared insights from his latest book and painting series, Vanitas and Viriditas. Latin for vanity and vitality, the series explores the biblical
theme of wisdom in creation. His presentation challenged us to think more deeply about how we steward both our creative gifts and the world around us. Drawing particularly from the wisdom literature of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, we recorded the lecture in What You're About to Hear embodies exactly what we mean by the Christian imagination. Seeing heaven in the things of earth, finding the sacred not by escaping the material world, but by diving deeper into its
God-given meaning and beauty. So settle in as Josh Thiessen helps us discover streams of wisdom flowing through the wasteland. Welcome to the Imagination Redeemed podcast where we follow the great stories further up and further in In Pursuit of the Life of Christ. OK, well, good evening everyone. It's great to be with you today and thank you so much to the Anselm Society for having me speak this evening and also for hosting me for a few days.
Well, as a Canadian, Colorado is actually one of my favorite states to visit. And I'm not just saying that because I'm in a room of Coloradoans, but I just loved outdoors. And so you have the mountains, the Garden of the Gods, and also the mining towns. So this painting here is called New Sheriff in Town and is inspired by Saint Elmo Ghost Town.
Now of course there weren't any 6 foot tall castleberries roaming around, but I actually photographed this one at the Denver Zoo, which apparently had escaped its zookeepers a few years before. Was literally roaming Colorado. Well, the last time I was here was for the Imagination Redeemed conference in 2021, which some of you were there and I was the featured artists and they used my painting, the chiral Stones for the poster and it was on display.
And I just couldn't get over Glenyard Castle. Like, wasn't that just a spectacular venue? And of course, all the rich conversations I had with people were just a huge blessing. And I've enjoyed keeping in touch with several of you over the years. And Brian Brown, who graciously also wrote an endorsement quote for my new book, which is very kind of him. And you're also blessed to have the Ansalem Society.
It's a really special and unique community that you guys get to be part of. Well, to begin, I'd like to share a bit of my story. So I was born in Moscow to Canadian parents who are professors, teaching Russian pastors and overseeing a team of missionaries working in drug and alcohol rehab and youth and children's camps. I spent the first six years of my life happily living with my parents and younger brother in southern Russia.
Now I had a Russian nanny who did lots of arts and crafts with me, showing me how to draw my stuffed animals with shading and perspective. And she began to quietly believe that I may just have a special gift for art. Well, after returning to Canada, I was discovered by a local artist who took me under her wing. One day she asked my mom if she could book me for an art exhibition. And my mom said, Al, he's 10 years old. And she said, So what? The public needs to see this child's work.
So the following year, at age 11, I had my first month long solo exhibition in a hospital art gallery. My exhibit served up a lot of interest where they had never exhibited such a young artist work and were really shocked by my abilities. I'd given away a lot of my early pieces to family and friends, but it was there that the first strangers asked to purchase my work. Someone also phoned the local newspaper and they did a big
article about my work. One of the pieces in the exhibition was my pastel drawing Aslan. So like any good father, my dad read the Chronicles of Narnia to my brother and me growing up. And I loved The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And of course, Aslan, who was a powerful metaphor for Christ. So while my art is not necessarily what you consider like quote UN quote religious art, it's definitely informed by a Christian worldview.
And so similar to CS Lewis, I like to draw upon a non religious vocabulary in order to convey deeper truths. So this painting the wood between the world's, some of you will probably notice that from the Magician's Nephew where it got the the inspiration. So from my Jewish heritage and my Christian heritage, the Bible has been a inspiration behind my work and an influence in my artistic practice.
So my painting series Screams in the Wasteland was inspired by the book of Isaiah and the prophetic books of the Old Testament. And so I was able to study this while completing a Bachelor of Religious Education in Arts and Biblical studies, which I did very, very part time, only taking me 9 years to graduate, but I kind of made it up with for with my masters of art history, which I managed to do
in just nine months. Well, in Isaiah I was reading about the prophecies for destruction for Babylon and the surrounding nations and how wild animals like hyenas would inhabit these abandoned cities. So suddenly a flurry of ideas came to me for new series depicting animals in deserted spaces, bringing honor to their creator. The title for the series came from Isaiah chapter 43, in which the prophet records the words of God.
The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, My chosen. Yet you have not called on me, Jacob. You have not wearied yourselves for me, Israel. I really caught a glimpse of the larger vision for animals serving as coworkers with the Creator to confront humanity, calling for wisdom from within the ruins of human moral decay.
According to Isaiah scholar Alec Mulcher, the earth is seen as actively participating with God by exposing what lay hidden. This is part of the moral vitality of creation, which is inevitably infected with human sin but never fails to be on the side of the holy purposes of its Creator. So in the paintings, wild animals have dominion implicating humankind for their own faithfulness, ignoring the Creator's call in Genesis to have a righteous dominion over
creation. In depicting nature's reclamation with the colors of my palette, I seek to confront things like human centrism and ecological exploitation, a desire to offer streams of hope within what sometimes feels a little bit like an apocalyptic wasteland that we're living in
today. Especially when we turn on the news in my painting piece Like a River, which was actually inspired by the Colorado River. A pod of orcas released from fictitious aquarium amusement park journey down a winding Canyon river toward their intended home. In Isaiah, the imagery of an Edenic river cutting through a barren wasteland is symbolic of the future hope that justice and mercy will one day reign, ushering in peace and wholeness.
So from the study of Isaiah's prophecies, I envision multiple ideas for wild animals inhabiting abandoned human civilizations across vast time periods and geographic locations, like in my painting Escape Artist, which references the plight of temple elephants in India.
Now, amidst the heavier themes, I also threw in a little bit of Comic Relief to lighten the mood like in my painting Meerkat Manor. Well, after five years of painting, the works were displayed at my first international solo exhibition at New York based gallery Jonathan Levine in 2019. However, years earlier I had taken a great risk starting this unusual body of work without any
prospect for a solo exhibition. Painting in faith, I hope to secure a major show at a reputable contemporary gallery. Now older traditional wildlife artist told me that that would be next to impossible since animals are often not highly regarded well in the Fine Arts world.
But following artists online, I discovered that a gallery in the Chelsea Arts District in New York City was hosting an international competition called Search for the Next Great Artist where the winning artist would receive a solo exhibition. It was a long shot, but I decided what do I have to lose? So I submitted, and to my utter shock, I came first place out of 2000 artists worldwide. Thank.
You. The gallery owner said it was seeing my painting Occidental Babylon, uncreated and on display in the finalist exhibition that really sealed the deal for him. It kind of proved to me that taking a crazy risk of spending 1200 hours on a painting could pay off. At the opening reception of my solo show, I was thrilled that the gallery owner hung the stories I write to go alongside my paintings.
As usually in the art establishment, the ethos is that we just let the viewers interpret the work however they like. Interestingly, an aunt of the gallery owner told me that she resonated with the passages of scripture in my writings. And so Levine said afterwards, with a bit of an impish wink, that it sure earned in brownie points with his Born Again family members. Well, the following year Streams in the Wasteland Part 2 took place at Corey Halford Gallery in Los Angeles.
For the better part of 2020, I toiled away on my largest work to date, which took 1700 hours to complete. As the finale to my Streams in the Wasteland series, I called back all of the animals that appear in the other paintings, so 17 species in total. Now a longer essay for this painting is included in my book Streams in the Wasteland, which there's a copy over there on the table if any of you would like to check it out and flip through.
So for this work, I drew influence from historical paintings that have depicted the symbol of the Lamb of God, such as Jan Van Ike's Adoration of the Lamb from the Ghent Altarpiece, as well as Francisco de Zirberen's Agnes Day, which I actually modeled the sheep from in my own painting. So in Isaiah chapter 53 we read a prophecy about a suffering servant likened to an innocent lamb.
Now throughout history this prophecy is believed by Christians and Messianic Jews to be fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth, the morally perfect substitute who died for the sins of humanity to bring us back into right relationship with our Creator, Creator. But this reconciliation also is cosmic in scope, the future hope of a new heavens and a new earth where the wolf will live with the lamb.
In the meantime, though, we have to recognize that, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, all of creation has been groaning as a result of the curse from humanity's sin. We can all be involved in rectifying the harm that humans have done to creation, thereby foreshadowing a better future.
So after completing the painting, I was pleasantly surprised when the Manhattan gallery that represents me, Race Contemporary, offered to take this painting to the LA Art Show, and the gallery owners hung the work in front of their booth very prominently. They also included my artist statement in which I just explained inspiration from Isaiah 53. And I was amazed that, you know, thousands of people saw this painting over the course of the
weekend. And they told me that it was the most Instagram painting of the show. An interesting development with this painting is that this January, it sold to some collectors in the Chicago area. And they actually first discovered my art through following the newsletter for the Anselm Society. And so they've been following my work for a couple of years. And they're just a a lovely couple.
And I couldn't have asked for better patrons of this work because they're also willing to lend it out to various schools and institutions for traveling shows. Now, shifting gears a little bit, who's heard of the popular slogan Art for Art's Sake? Yeah. OK. So quite a few of you. So I would never want to say art doesn't have intrinsic value, just on its own. It doesn't need any justification. I firmly believe in that. But the reality is that artists are still accountable to a
creator. They're not, you know, more at least superior than everyone else. But also I think what's special about art is that it's historically engaged other disciplines outside of art. So things like history and theology in the Bible, even how we depict the natural landscape, art has played a really crucial
role. So drawing on my series Vanitas and Brititas, I'd like to discuss wisdom in creation, playing on the double meaning of the word creation, referring to both creativity as well as creation being the natural world around us. And so I'd like to take you on a brief tour of several passages in the Bible related to wisdom and creation, which I think really can enrich our understanding of the church calendar season of Ordinary Time, which I believe the Anselm Society has been focused on in
this season. So to begin with, the Bible is, of course, a work of art. It was written by 40 different authors in three different languages. And there's, you know, a plethora of literary genres from apocalyptic to prophetic to history books to poetry and letters. The Bible begins with Genesis one verse one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. I think it's amazing that God first identifies himself as a creator and he's really the
ultimate master artist. And not only that, he's a wise creator because we read in Proverbs 3 by wisdom, the Lord laid the earth's foundations. By understanding He set the heavens in place, Genesis chapter 1 talks about how humans are made in the image and likeness of this Creator.
God gives each one of us the gift of creativity, even if we don't think of ourselves as, you know, professional artists per SE. We all have a creative aptitude in varying amounts, and it has a purpose because we read in Genesis chapter 2 that Adam and Eve were called to be good stewards of the Garden of Eden, which involve taking care of the garden but also involved cultivating the land to develop
culture. They're also given responsibility to name the animals, which I think is really the first creative task and command. And this continues up to the present, with biologists discovering new species every year. We even take this a step further with naming our pets. This is Habakkuk and Zebediah, our lovable Boston terriers. We're just Hab and Zeb because most people can't remember their
full names. We see creativity in the process in Genesis 4 with the fashioning of musical instruments like the lyre and pipe and also tools of bronze and iron. Now it should be mentioned though that while we see culture making affirmed early on in Genesis as seen in King's Descendants, it's perverted in the building of the Tower of Babel as well as Aaron crafting the golden calf in Exodus. This really shows me that creativity on its own is simply
not enough. Today we know many artists who have these amazing God-given abilities who have either abused them or they've become so egotistical that the creative gift becomes an idol. Thankfully, though, we have numerous positive examples throughout Scripture for music,
poetry, art, dance, and drama. We see this in the building of the Tabernacle in Exodus 31, where the artisans Basil and the Holy App are commissioned to design God's dwelling place for Israel. And this is one of the first times in the Bible that it says that the Holy Spirit works through humans and it's through artists. They're filled with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge, and with all kinds of skills.
And so the gathering things like gold and gems and fine yarn and exotic woods reflects God's desire for artistic quality. And some of the imagery includes pomegranates, almond blossoms, cherubim, oxen and lions. And if that sounds familiar, the Tabernacle was meant to be a mini representation of the Garden of Eden, built and designed by God's image bearers. And this is also reflected in Solomon's temple, where we read about sculptors who fashioned palm trees and flowers.
And so I just shake my head when I hear people say that we can't have art in the church. Or somehow whitewashed walls are holier. Well, we often think that wisdom is just intellectual. It's just head knowledge. But according to a Jewish understanding of wisdom, it's really practical knowledge and can even extend to things like botany and music. You see, King Solomon considered, you know, the wisest person to live is described this
way. He spoke 3000 proverbs, and his songs numbered 1005. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations, people came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the worlds who had heard of his wisdom.
Throughout the Old Testament we see how the Hebrew word for wisdom, hokhmah, is applied to even things like sailors and Goldsmiths and even women skilled in lamentation. I mean, who knew that you could cry wisely? But I guess you can. So perhaps the obvious question is how do we become wise people? And so this is the question I ponder in Vanity Toss and Britta Toss as I explore 2 divergent perspectives on wisdom through 2 characters.
So there's Colette, inspired by the book of Ecclesiastes, and also Lady Wisdom, inspired by Proverbs. So while both of their paths diverge, the former affirming the the former, they're questioning life and wrestling with the enigmas that are all around, and the latter delighting in the wise blueprint of the natural order, both affirm that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There needs to be a reverential awe for the Creator.
So while Streams in the Wasteland represents the macro perspective of human civilizations and their relationship with the natural world, Danny Toss and Rudy Toss represents the micro perspective of human virtue, what it looks like to cultivate character for personal, cultural and ecological flourishing. Now, I'd like to begin by talking about the first Vanitas painting, Refracting Infinity. So the whole series began with this concept sketch, which is
very simple. And so whenever I began drawing for a painting, I really invite the Holy Spirit to be involved in the creative process. And I usually find that ideas come to me when I'm in prayer, meditating, or reading scripture. And so I always keep a sketchbook close at hand on my night side table in case an idea comes to me day or night. So my friend Felipe graciously posed for Colette It during a long outdoor photography session
on a very chilly December day. Now, coming from Columbia, he was not used to our cold Canadian winters, so I was especially grateful for his willingness. So to begin, I I devised a shape for my paintings. In this case, I thought the pointed Gothic arch would fit
with the architecture. And my assistant builds the brace Baltic Birch panels, AKA my dad and I do pay them so it's it's above board and he primes them with grey gesso so that they're all ready to go. And then I transferred the sketch onto the panel with charcoal pencil and then spray a fixative so that the charcoal doesn't smudge when I begin painting. And then I begin with an acrylic under painting to block in the subject matter.
And then after that, I switch to oils for the subsequent layers because you can do a lot more softer blending because they're so lower drying. And you have the, you know, the, the richness of the paint and I'm able to achieve finer detail. So the character I developed, like I said, is named cola, which is Hebrew for teacher. So in Ecclesiastes the teacher warns that the pursuit of knowledge, wealth and pleasures under the sun is nothing more
than vanity. So the Hebrew word translated vanity is heavil and it occurs 38 times in the book. And translators have wrestled over the meaning of this word. I bet the NIV Bible translators in the room tonight will will have great insight on that. But the literal translation of
heavil is vapor or smoke. So as you can see, I included the the smoke in this painting and the figure in this where whose silhouette is reflected in the windows of what's an old university science lab is a modern version of the ancient teacher. He's a disenchanted wanderer in a world of smoke and mirrors, pondering the question, what is the cure to the banality of existence?
Similarly, the French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal described the predicament of being caught in the despair of human existence on all sides. I behold nothing but Infinity in which I am a mere Adam, a mere passing shadow that returns no more. You see, Cola is intrigued by complex scientific theories and concepts. This painting depicts the idea of string theory, that at the subatomic level, all of life is interconnected through vibrating strings of energy.
And so the Criss crossing yards inside the window are being woven into a nest by these two indigo bundles. Through the window is seen a whimsical sunflower, like the ones in a Vincent van Gogh painting, and it treats cohlect. Despite Van Gogh's life of depression and sorrow, he saw glimpses of the divine through nature. Likewise, Colette is fascinated by the golden ratio spirals of
sunflower florets. According to scientists, the Fibonacci sequence is a cosmic constant ranging from spiral growth of a Nautilus shell all the way up to the spirals of galaxies. Well, Cola is tempted, though, to deem life absurd without any objective meaning. He's not wholly satisfied with that answer. He prefers to press into the mystery. Will the intelligent design he discovers in science and nature evoke in him wonder and desire for a world re enchanted?
Or is it merely a human evolutionary survival instinct to ascribe meaning to a universe of blind, meaningless indifference, in the words of atheist Richard Dawkins? In my next painting, Memento Mori, Colette finds himself in a hidden cave of crystals, and the intersecting quartz columns with the colors of pink and purple and blue reminded me of stained glass windows in churches, which are spaces where death is often contemplated, especially at funerals.
The motif of skull was used in banitas. Still life paintings of the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, to quote, remind viewers that they would die, which is the literal translation of memento mooring. So 2 candles are used to be symbolic of the fleetingness of our lives, which at any moment can be snuffed out. So the book of Ecclesiastes has a lot to say about death, Colette writes. There's a time to be born and a time to die.
However, in our death adverse culture, it's typical to even mention the fact that death awaits us all. Many are obsessed with transcending human limitations, uploading our brains into the cloud for some future robotic body. Yet with all of our medical advancements, there's still, I think, wisdom accepting the fact that death is part of the natural world. It's still one of the surest things in life.
That and taxes, of course. The Veritas paintings feature Sofia, which is a Greek for wisdom, her name inspired by the female personification. From Wisdom, from Proverbs, she poetically sings, The Lord formed me from the beginning, before He created anything else. I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began. I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence. And how happy I was with the world he created.
How I rejoiced with the human family. Now much conjecture has been made of what Lady Wisdom means when she states in Proverbs 8 that she was the Amon at God's side. Translations vary from architect, artisan to darling and delight, and even little child. Now, contrary to popular depictions of Wisdom as a solemn old sage lady, Wisdom describes herself as actively participating with and
delighting in her maker. And so this inspired my character Sophia. And so I envisioned her sort of like a medieval character with fiery ginger hair, akin to Tariel the Elf and Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit. And so, like Elf, Sophia has a youthful charm, but is as old as time itself. And so I thought her freckles and red lips and green velvet dress and amethyst necklace all represented the abundance and spirit of plate that I think is really intrinsic to wisdom.
Similar to Lady Wisdom, Sophia espouses virtue such as simplicity, humility, wonder, and awe, vital for cultivating ecological wisdom. The 12th century Benedictine nun and Abbas Hildegard of Bingen, from whom the Latin expression in Veridicas originates, also informed my character development of Sofia. Now this generative word can be translated as holy graining power which produces new growth,
vitality, creativity and virtue. So my studio is located a block down from a major hiking trail in Ontario which I often frequent, and it was there that I set up the scene for my painting All Creatures Praise. So featured here is a screen cap of my workflow in Photoshop where I create a mock up from my reference material. Also I create a digital color study and also a color scheme which informs the palette for
the painting. And so, while journeying through the enchanted woods, Sophia discovers an old hymn laying on a mess on a bed of Moss penned by Saint Francis of Sisi, Patriot St. of Ecology. In his famous nature hymn Canticle, the Creatures he echoes Psalm 148. Praise him, sun and moon. Praise him, all you shining stars, praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above
the skies. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds. In 2000, I mean in 1910, William Draper paraphrased this canticle into the well known hymn which you're all probably familiar with. All creatures of our God and King. And in my painting, those lyrics are represented on the old parchment paper.
And what I love about this hymn is that it's a reminder that we don't just sing to our Creator alone as humans, but we actively join in with the cosmic choir of creation. My next painting is Creation Cathedral. Now, while most Western cathedrals didn't include animals as artistic subjects matter, I decided to include stained glass creaturely Saints like the humpback whale, and also the orca. And in the center rose window, there's a dove hovering over the earth.
Scholars believe that the creation narratives in Genesis 1 and 2 poetically alludes to God's wise construction of the heavens and the earth as a cosmic temple, later echoed in Basil AL's Tabernacle and Solomon's temple. In the words of Richard Middleton, it's a sacred realm for God's dwelling and role in which all creatures, human and non human, are called to worship their Creator.
The Canadian artist Emily Carr, who's kind of like our Georgia O'Keeffe, likewise painted the Canadian West Coast rainforest. Her painting Church in You Code inspired my painting. I love her reflection on faith found in our journals where she writes Surely the Woods, our God's Tabernacle according to the order of creation. In Genesis, plants and animals come before humans, and unlike us, don't fall into rebellion.
The wise sage Job exhorts us to ask the animals, and they will teach you, the birds of the air, and they will tell you. Ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you. And the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. As Kola and his companion Brother Wolf stop to ponder the scene, the Chapel doors swing open.
A blue light beckons the sojourners into this divine mystery. The next painting I like to talk about is called Greening the White Cube. So the white cube is a euphemism for the modern art gallery, and it represents this industrial space, usually with concrete floors and sterile white walls, which in my opinion, inherently keeps nature out and sometimes the wisdom of creation.
So when I was in my teens, an older friend of my parents gave me a book called Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by Hans Ruchmacher, a Christian art historian and colleague of Francis Schaeffer, who I'm sure many of you are familiar with. And so I found his apartment critique of the nihilism and ugliness in much of modern art very helpful for me in navigating this very strange world that I was entering. Many modern artists spurn beauty.
Abstract Expressionist painter Willem de Kooning admitted Beauty becomes petulant to me. I like the grotesque. It's more joyous. This is evidenced in his painting Woman One, which is pictured on the right wall. And throughout Western art history, the beautiful was often associated with gorgeous women and sweeping landscapes, which are notoriously absent in the canons of modern art history.
And so the works in my painting Greening the White Cube are among the most famous of the 20th century, all completed by white men. According to designer Ingrid Fettlee, high modernism promoted a rationalist mode of design free of sentimental flourishes. Artists of that period who were overlooked are now being embraced, such as Helma of Clint and many others. And beauty is really returning again in the art world. Sophia appears.
Into an. Abandoned art gallery though lamenting the industrial complex of modern art. In Proverbs, Lady Wisdom is contrasted with this other female character named Lady Folly. Contemporary artist Christopher Wolves painting Untitled Fool, I think poignantly illustrate that in the art world, sometimes the emperor has no clothes, as this painting sold in 2014 for a mere $14 million. Lady.
Fawley is alive. And, well, in the art world, she may have been deconstructed in Picasso's prostitutes entitled La du Monzel Davina, but her seductive allure for wealth and status and material goods is all too present. Conversely, Lady Wisdom knows that she is far more precious and profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her. Those who hold her fast will be blessed.
Really. My painting envisions a future of natural reclamation, a time when the hallowed halls of the art elite will no longer reject beauty. Now don't get me wrong, there's much of contemporary art that I really do appreciate. And so I'm critiquing the art world as someone within this sphere, hoping and praying for its ultimate redemption for artists of faith. I believe that we can be part of a new movement animated by a wisdom filled uriditas greening vitality that can create new
life in the fine art world. So my series first debuted in 2023 as a solo exhibition in New York City at Ray's Gallery, located around the corner from the Museum of Modern Art. I was encouraged that the gallery owners actually relayed the biblical inspiration for my series in the press release. And the Ray's owners, although they're secular Jews, seem to respect the Bible and even allowed me to put my artist
statements. Up on the walls along with the paintings as well as my synopsis in which I quoted from the book of Job. And I also had the privilege of giving the private tour to the head editor of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. And after seeing my work, he said to me that he really thinks the art world is ready for work like mine that seems to seeks to Plumb the depths of the human condition and re evaluate our relationship with the world.
Sofia then appears. In my painting the Cairo Stones with her trusty companion their time travelling through the past. In this pre modern area, time was apprehended as multi dimensional and a greater emphasis was placed on sacred days within the liturgical calendar, distinguishing the holy as higher time from the
profane Ordinary time. Sophia, like the ancient peoples who erected places like Stonehenge, expresses her connection to the land ecological wisdom through celebrations such as the winter and summer solstice, new moons, harvest times as well as Sabbath's. In the Bible, the prophet Samuel established Ebenezers, or stones of help to revive remind the Israelites of the Lord's favor.
The floating megalith stones in my painting symbolize these higher times where sacred events are often reenacted and time stands still momentarily. According to the philosopher Charles Taylor, a casualty of our secular age is that time has been disenchanted and made purely horizontal, which means secularizing holidays or thinking of just, you know, having to kill time. We no longer really embrace. The vertical dimensions of higher times nor really see the
beauty of ordinary time. The seasons of of nature which are really not ordinary at all. Considering the ways in which. Secularism has shaped me in modern society. Sophia reminds us of the crucial need for re enchantment of time to become fully human being in tune with nature and the creator for whom a day is like 1000 years.
As each of my paintings take quite a long time to complete, hundreds of hours, my subject matter has really a profound influence on me. I find that animal art has the potential to evoke wonder, reorient our affections, and also become more empathetic to our fellow creatures. And so this is essential for cultivating wisdom amidst an ecological crisis where there's widespread biodiversity loss, which in many ways reflects our lack of attunement with the
natural world. In the words of Hildegard of Bigging, we shall awake from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion. So in the early. Church The. Legend of a mother Pelican who pierces her breast to feed her young was likened to Christ's self sacrifice on the cross. In the gospels, Christ likens himself to a mother hen. Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you. How often I've longed to gather you together as a mother hen gathers her chicks. But you were not willing. Over the centuries, many cathedrals adopted the symbol of the mother Pelican and her chicks in the form of colorful stained glass windows and carvings. Drawing on this. Theological. Symbol My painting depicts a Mother Pelican's valiant attempt to rise from the holy oily muck
to save her chicks. I actually had in mind the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in 2010, which was this terrible catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. All Creatures Lament is really an intentionally unpleasant and sober in painting to illicit compassion and to spur us on toward environmental stewardship of the love for creation. And so if we recognize God's care for all creatures and adopt this posture, what might this change in us as we relate to nature? How would our lives maybe look
differently? Perhaps we'll limit things like single use plastics, as hard as that is, as they're a petroleum based product, or curb our reliance on fossil fuels or holds polluting corporations accountable. The final work in this. Series is Alpha and Omega. I first sketched the concept for this back in 2015, seven years before I began painting it. Eventually, I envisioned this scene to be the culmination of my series where Colette and
Sophia finally meet. Now, Colette is afforded the opportunity to pursue everything under the sun, trying to find meaning in a modern age, even with virtual reality and technology. As a lone wanderer, though fighting his demons of nihilist despair, he meets Sophia, Lady Wisdom beckoning him from within the portal of the new creation.
So Zen rock gardens are dry landscapes, which in Buddhism are meant to represent the absence of organic life and also nothingness that is believed to be essential to life. Well, Colette is attracted to this worldview, compelling him to let go of all of his worldly attachments. Sophia draws him back to everything that is good, true, and beautiful. And so the black sand is a picture of Colette sole and the gushing water spilling out from the portal represent the living waters.
Sophia also carries this tree sapling which is symbolic for the Tree of Life, which is a Jewish symbol for wisdom and it represents the wisdom that may also grow in Colette soul. The 12 Stones in the arch bear monograms for the 12 tribes of Israel, and the Cairo stone at the top, which is a historical symbol for Christ, fits into the portal. And I was thinking about the line in Psalm 118 which says the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.
Sophia, you see, is also a signpost to Christ in Scripture, whom Colette comes to understand is the wisdom from God, as the Apostle Paul articulates in First Corinthians so. The concept for the. Portal in this painting came from what the Celtics called thin places where the veil between heaven and earth is thin. Colette Quest may be coming to an end as he arrives at a newfound reenchantment with the world.
Yet despite Sophia's call to embrace the wonder that's all around in the world, we still live in a world where human injustices and environmental injustices and all the enigmas of life still persist. Colette and Sophia understand that relying solely on human wisdom itself is not enough and can't fix the brokenness. It's only the creator of the cosmos, referred to as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, who can ultimately restore a broken world.
Employing a story based. Approach Through this series, Antos and Brititos seeks to critique vices such as greed, self centeredness, arrogance, while also commending virtues such as humility, justice and love. Through presenting 2 dialectical perspectives is a way to discover what it means to become a wise person in everyday life on this planet, we're challenged to live up to our name, homo sapien, which translates to wise human.
In theologians Stephen Bauma Predekar's excellent new book Earth Keeping and Character, he writes the virtue of wisdom is shot through with an abiding awareness of life's precariousness, an understanding and prizing of the excellence of life, and an unwavering sense of Thanksgiving for the sheer gift of life. Well, hopefully this has given you a feel for my painting series, an example for how the arts can help us illuminate the timeless truths found in the
Wisdom books. You can see more of my Vanitas and Veritas paintings in my new book, in which all 23 of the works are presented along with written commentary that goes into greater detail. I also just want to honor Doctor Mark Boda, who is with us here tonight, and he was the theological advisor for the project, and I didn't know he was going to be in the Colorado Springs area.
We both live in Hamilton, ON Canada so if if there are any errors still in the book I fully take responsibility But but. Mark was. A a huge help. I think the book makes for a a great gift for creative types, deep thinkers, nature lovers. It could also be used as a devotional book focusing on one painting a day for spiritual reflection. And here's the book on the the
screen here. And also percent of all the proceeds are being donated to the Christian Conservation Organization of Russia, as I really believe in using art to make a difference, especially because my work has a lot of environmental themes. Well, the book is also accompanied by the Vanitas and Riditas soundtrack composed by Zach Teeson, who happens to be my brother. The original soundtrack was composed at the Budapest Scoring Orchestra in Hungary, which I was honored to accompany my
brother. And so you can listen to the full soundtrack on Spotify and Apple Music. And so the concept was that as you're flipping through the book, viewing the art, you can listen to the instrumental orchestral tracks, which were inspired by each of the paintings in the series. Well, thank you. So much for your. Time. I really appreciate you listening to my talk tonight. Thank you very much. So I think we have some time for. Some questions or comments.
So yeah, I would be happy to field any questions you might have. Yes. Do you spend time in other locations? For inspiration, I was thinking about the time to mention. The. Sounding show, yeah. Yes, at the same time I do. Yes, I I have been. Fortunate to travel quite a bit around the world and when possible I try to visit the locations that I paint in order to get the photo references myself.
Sometimes I source the image material from other photographer friends if if needed, but I think that just kind of adds to the authenticity of the work when you could actually like experience these places. And so like several of like the the ghost town paintings, for instance, somewhere inspired from here in Colorado and California and and elsewhere. And so it's, yeah, really fun because then you could also tell a story when, when you're sharing about the the painting.
Yeah, set the pack which. Painting is your personal favorite. Oh, I have to get that question, I say. I really OK on that. My painting Whale Ham. Which I'm trying to think if I, I think I have it, I'll go back in my presentation here. So Whale Ham was completed when I was going through very intensive treatment for chronic Lyme disease with my family. And it was a very therapeutic painting. Let me just pick it up here. Yes.
So here it is. I, I puttered away on this while we're going through very intensive IV treatments for three months. And in with the strength I did have in between going to the clinic, I was able to to work on this. I was very therapeutic. It was a reminder to me that as whales sing these incredibly haunting chants that are actually songs that are passed down from generation to generation.
It was a reminder to me that even within my chronic illness, in this difficult time, that that I need to give praise to to my creator. And so, yeah, this painting has a a special place in my heart for for that reason and will will him is, I think my my favorite painting, although it might change. Yes, what? Makes you choose like this. Specific.
Animal Oh, OK, yes so a lot of factors like the, the the lemurs, I just like they're they in Madagascar, the word lemur is actually like word for same word for ghost and in its original like linguistic background. And so I also thought they look very like sentient because they have these big eyes and they have so much personality. And so that was tied into Ecclesiastes where it says like the fate of humans is the same
as animals. Both go to the grave, but other other paintings, it's just a a feel. Maybe it's just like the color palette that I feel the, the, the texture or palette of the, the species just works with the environment because often I will put animals in unusual environments that are not necessarily like their their natural environment. And so sometimes like documentaries I watch too, like I watch the BBC documentary Ocean Giants, and that's how I really got into Wales.
So yeah, yeah. It can come from a a variety of places. Good question. There was a question behind, yes. Curious, as a Christian artist, how your interaction with organized institutional church has been as you're working to see, what sort of interception has your mission found reception? Is it chilly reception? Maybe talk about. Yeah, yeah. Both. I would say I, I've experienced some positive things where like I would say most of my collectors haven't been Christians.
I'd say maybe half or have been, yeah, like secular and then maybe 1/3 are believers. I I found, though, that, you know, I've been at different churches growing up and some, some can be more supportive than others. At one church, I helped curate an art gallery and artist
community. At other places I find like they're very supportive in what I do outside of the church, but it's a bit tricky for them to figure out where I fit within the church because like if you're a musician, you're on the ownership team. If you're a graphic designer, you can do the, the promos and website design, but visual art,
it's a little bit harder. And especially with a lot of contemporary churches that don't have dedicated spaces for art or who have more of a minimalist design, there's not really kind of even a conceptual framework for how do we fit art in. But I, I've been encouraged that like I have a, a Catholic priest who's collected my art and has used my paintings as like sermon illustrations and is in homilies.
And so I found, like, one of the benefits is that I've had like a very kind of ecumenical connection to the church with people from more like liturgical backgrounds interested. But then again, I am still surprised that some more low church kind of evangelicals have also embraced my work and purchased it. They may have not really come across a Christian artist before. So often times pastors have just never met someone like me.
And so I try to have a posture of like, not coming in expecting them to understand everything that I'm doing, but try to come with like a humble posture. There's often like an appreciation of art history and the Sistine Chapel that a lot of pastors, you know, will will use as, as examples of great art in the past, but also for them to know that there are still living artists of faith creating new, new and fresh work. So that's kind of a meandering answer to your question, but
it's it's a good one. Yeah. I think you yeah, an interesting you talked about the. Removal of beauty from modern art or from worship. But you also kind of without directly saying you talked a lot about the removal of beauty from science. Yes, particularly. You were mentioning. Ecology and zoology, but even physics as well. Yes. What drew you into that and how do you? Science isn't necessarily something you're going for no innovation in. All of your. Work.
So how is that apart? Wow, I've never been asked that. Question, that's beautiful. I think so. I have definitely really appreciated, you know, scientists who have seen like the the benefit of the imagination. Like I I read this book on fungi by Merlin Sheldrake Entangled and he was saying that all scientists actually have to use imagination and metaphors because they're trying to describe a new phenomenon.
With using metaphors and language which is essentially all based on metaphor and and so there has to be like an imaginative scope. I I think also in in, but I think the Enlightenment influence on on science has very much like disconnected it from the arts or philosophy.
And I think more and more we're, we're recognizing that Stephen Balmain Prediger, who's a theologian and also heads up like the environmental studies program at Hope College, says that we only care about things that we love. And so love and affection for the natural world has to actually come before we can study it in depth. Because usually once we have love for something, we then want to seek it out and, and study it in greater detail.
And so I, I think that art can have like a very fruitful relationship with, with science to remind us that the natural world isn't just here for utilitarian benefit, for scientific studies or for human moral progress, But it can be something that we can enjoy and appreciate and find wonder in and how it directs us to praise for a creator and, and all of these, these cool things. And so I think artists have a
unique role. I mean, the history of Natural History work from Audubon and onwards has has shown that that kind of spurred on scientific inquiry by being able to visually depict the the natural world and get people excited about studying science further. So. Christina Yeah, yeah. So part of. What I love about your pieces is how much architecture you also. Yeah, all of them. And. So I kind of let you know. Why? Well, first of all, cuz all your boards right your, your actual
pieces are shaped. Very unusually. Yeah, I love. That they're all custom assets. But also there's like and and again, like the triptych, the altarpiece, yes, I wanted to like speak into. That what made. You choose a triptych. Why is there that like artificial, like computer, old church symbol, Yeah. I love that question.
Yeah, yeah. I was actually for my Masters of Art History program, wrote a final paper on, on that very question that you posed, because what's fascinating in, in my studies is that the further you go back in like Renaissance painting and a lot of these altar pieces, they were actually designed to echo the architecture of these spaces and
to be very integral. So that's why you get these altar pieces and, and triptychs, which is, you know, 3 panels that into one painting for, for those who don't know.
And so for when, when art kind of left the church and the church stopped being kind of a major patron, there's a transition to like the the, the French academies and the salons and framing became very homogenized where you just got rectangle frames and artists weren't as involved with like sculptors and carvers who would make these elaborate frames that would be kind of like separate from the process.
But then it was in the mid 20th century where color field abstract painters like Frank Stella is the best example, broke away from rectangles. And some of those abstract painters actually cited altarpiece frames as being an inspiration. Even though a lot of you think of modern art is breaking with religious tradition of the past.
They found that those altar painting altarpiece paintings thought about like the sculptural aspect of a painting, the shape and how the shape could imbue meaning into the the work. And so as you saw in some of the, the paintings, like the choice to have a, a circle goes back to the Italian Tondo format, which was associated with Mary and wholeness and perfection. And so like a lot of these shapes have so much meaning.
And so that's why I like kind of exploring because I find like rectangles and squares get boring, honestly. And so that's why I like to let the the subject matter dictate like Tabernacle, frame, etcetera. But yeah, thanks for asking that. Do we have any more questions? Do. You still have Occidental Babylon? Or is it sold? That one's sold. Yes, at the Jacksonville Art Auction.
Yeah, that was a hard one to to let go because it was like a custom made frame from rustic barn board wood and then designed like I designed the corbels and plants and all these these elements that reflected like the Western Gothic architecture of the Bodhi ghost town where it was inspired. Yeah. Maybe last question a little bit about. Just kind of your workflow like how do you OK yeah, how do you create your pieces and so many
hours Yeah, sure. Yeah. So, so I tried to paint around 8 to 10 hours a day. And of course I take Sundays off. So I have my, my Sabbath, but I also have to, you know, do the, the boring administrative work as well, emails and updating websites. So it's, it's not all glamorous as, as an artist, but yeah, I'm painting in my studio and I listen to audio books and podcasts and music while I'm
painting. And yeah, I, I love what I get to do. Painting is the most enjoyable part of, of, of what I do. It doesn't even feel like a job. It's not always easy. It is hard work. But for me, I have like, the patient attention to detail and so I like the challenge of working on a painting for such a long period of time. So yeah. But I also start my day in prayer and scripture.
And so I try to, I'm still learning how to have a good, healthy work life balance and spend time outdoors and all of that as we as we all do. But thanks so much everyone. And again, so glad to be with you tonight. Imagination Redeemed podcast. Is a production of the Anselm Society. It's easy to see this world as disenchanted and to give up hope that there's more.
But you were made to see the world with the eyes of heaven, to experience a joyful Sabbath and experience the world as a place to meet God and live a bountiful life that participates in the life of God. Like in the great stories, the Ansam Society is a place where you can come in and experience beauty, joyful celebration, and ancient wisdom and go out renewed, bringing that life to your vocation, home, and church.
Join us next time as we pursue a renaissance of the Christian imagination together.