Art and Faith

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, Mark Rothko, and 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.

“Art and Faith features more biblical exegesis than studio tips, as the painter wrestles eloquently with art-averse fellow Christians who prefer narrow-minded ‘culture war’ to the ‘culture care’ he advocates.”—The Economist“Makoto Fujimura’s theological reflections on artistic creation and the whole process of ‘making’ are truly profound, spiritually enriching and often refreshingly original.”—Brian Cooper, Church of England Newspaper“Looks both east and west. . . . Silence and contemplation are here offered as ways to appreciate beauty and to encourage what elsewhere Fujimura has called ‘Culture care.’”—Nicholas Cranfield, Church Times“In this relatively short but beautifully profound volume world-renowned artist Makoto Fujimura reflects on his personal faith and on the techniques of Japanese painting.”—Ann Barlow, magnetRecipient of the 2023 Kuyper Prize, sponsored by Calvin University“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“This brief, very crisply and lucidly written book makes a brilliantly and distinctly personal contribution to the ongoing discussions around faith and the creative imagination.”—Rowan Williams“Here a world-class painter and cultural critic reinterprets both the creative act and the nature of Christian faith in a way that should interest anyone concerned with the indispensable role of the creative imagination in human flourishing.”—Ellen Davis, Duke Divinity School“Makoto Fujimura is the rare artist whose life has something of the same purifying and galvanizing force of his work. His new book brings those two elements—life and art—even closer together, and is a real tonic for our atomized time.”—Christian Wiman“In the presence of the beautiful ‘we act like someone who is all ears and eyes: beauty has something to say to us,’ wrote Nietzsche. Reading this book, I fell silent and became all ears and eyes.”—Miroslav Volf, Yale Divinity School

Makoto Fujimura is an artist whose exhibitions in New York and Asia have been featured in the New York Times, the Atlantic, and other leading publications. He is the recipient of the 2023 Kuyper Prize and is an award-winning author. He is founder of IAMCultureCare and the Fujimura Institute, and cofounder of Kintsugi Academy. He has served on the National Council on the Arts.