Art and Faith: A Theology of Making -- Makoto Fujimura, Hardcover

From a world-renowned painter, an exploration of creativity's quintessential--and often overlooked--role in the spiritual life

"Makoto Fujimura's art and writings have been a true inspiration to me. In this luminous book, he addresses the question of art and faith and their reconciliation with a quiet and moving eloquence."--Martin Scorsese

"[An] elegant treatise . . . Fujimura's sensitive, evocative theology will appeal to believers interested in the role religion can play in the creation of art."--Publishers Weekly

Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura's broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of "making." What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio, in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise.

Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, and from Mark Rothko to Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God's being and God's grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman's words, "an accidental theologian," one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art.

Author: Makoto Fujimura
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 01/05/2021
Pages: 184
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 7.20h x 5.40w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780300254143

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/30/2020
Choice 09/01/2021

About the Author
Makoto Fujimura is an artist whose recent exhibitions in New York and Asia have been featured in the New York Times, the Atlantic, and other leading publications. He is also an award-winning author and the founder of IAMCultureCare and the Fujimura Institute, and co-founder of Kintsugi Academy. He has served on the National Council on the Arts.