Text Drawings, Illuminated Manuscripts, and Illuminations

My work explores the nature of religion and the psychological impact it has on its followers. I come from an evangelical Christian background and was raised with controversial beliefs that affected me into adulthood. When I left the church in my early thirties, I began to use my artwork as a commentary on the psychological abuse that comes out of a fundamentalist belief system. In my work I have addressed such themes as sin, salvation, and the patriarchal authority of religious traditions. I started working with sacred texts in 2007, cutting letters from one text to form the writings of another. In one piece I cut letters from the Bible to create a passage from the Koran, in another I cut letters from the Koran to create a passage from the Bhagavad Gita, and so on. This “cross-pollination” of holy books has a larger purpose, suggesting that all sacred writings point toward the same, ultimate source, eliminating the need for exclusivity or intervention. In the process of deconstructing and reconstructing sacred texts, I found a way to express a broad interpretation of scripture that is inclusive of all faiths. In the “Illuminated Manuscripts” series, I combine sacred texts with painting, sewing, and burning, rendering a contemporary interpretation of an ancient tradition. But instead of illuminating a long-established, patriarchal religion, I illuminate the state of awareness. This state of being, found at the heart of spiritual traditions, is the origin and destination of all religions. In my current series, “Illuminations”, I start each piece by drawing a stack of indefinable objects, and as I paint them, I continuously erase, deface, and make changes to the piece. The process has a Hegelian dialectic aspect, as I make a mark (thesis), question the aesthetic quality of that mark (antithesis), then paint over or erase it, creating a new mark (synthesis). The visual language that emerges reveals the process of discovery. I find this dialectic to be useful in religion as well, as we examine common themes and generate new ideas for a synthesized spiritual path. The multiple frames of reference, inconsistent light sources, and copious erasures allude to the futile efforts to define, control, and exploit an incomprehensible deity. This series also includes text cut from sacred texts, which I view as poetry rather than dogma. Most of the text is from Buddhist scripture, and indeed my work is largely based in Buddhist principles. I try to bring an element of humor to the work, as religion is often a grave subject. The “Illuminations” are at once serious and playful, negating a single interpretation and cultivating an approach to spirituality that is inclusive and open-ended. While the central image is painted with fine detail, the marginalia often appear to be unfinished, as if abandoned mid-doodle. This is done with intention, suggesting that everything is a work in progress, even our most cherished beliefs. 

MH 2023