[See part 9]

As I conclude this blog series, I want to thank you for your journey with me into the process and execution of the illumination process of the Four Holy Gospels project. The entire series of original paintings will be exhibited from July 8 through September 18 at Museum of Biblical Art (MOBiA) in New York City this summer. So please stop by!

When the exhibit opened at Dillon Gallery December 2010(by the way they have now released the exclusively hand re-touched archival prints of the frontispieces), one of my favorite images to speak about was the image on Luke 18:4. The image is of five vertical lines, done with sumi ink, and then this “beautiful mess” at the bottom. 

Law a

…

Continue Reading →

[Read part 8]

I am often asked about the process of working on the embellishments and chapter heading initial letters. The embellishments were done last, after a lengthy process of preparing the text and the initial letters onto a high quality watercolor paper.

Spiritual Preparation

I came into the studio each day and read a chapter I was working on, starting from Matthew. It was a privilege to be able to spend so much time, praying and meditating on each chapter, and then thinking of generative ways to create imagery. Having the overall theme of "Jesus wept" in mind, and yet paying close attention to the content of the chapters, I first selected a particular focus of each chapter. One…

Continue Reading →

[Read Part 7]

As you read this I will be in Japan, meeting with leaders and creatives to assess the situation there. I’ll correspond about the ongoing efforts, as well as future possibilities, on my Twitter/Facebook, and www.begenerative.org.

Many viewers of the Four Holy Gospels project inquire about the illuminations’ origins. Tim Keller stated at the opening of the Four Holy Gospels exhibit at Dillon Gallery in NYC:

"According to Christian theology, the Illuminator is the Holy Spirit, and therefore I believe from what I can see that the Illuminator has illumined the illuminator of the illuminated bible, and will continue to illuminate through both the images and the words" (hear Kel

…

Continue Reading →

[Read Part 6]

This work visually echoes the "Charis-Kairos" cover piece in the same way that the beginning of the Gospel according to John echoes the beginning of Genesis. The first chapter of the Gospel according to John speaks not only about the origin of all creation in Jesus, but also about the mystery behind creation. Art needs to inhabit such mysteries - to open us up to the generative reality of the deeper questions that lie behind our questions.

The portion of John—In the Beginning was done as a live performance, as part of an ongoing collaboration with Jazz percussionist/composer Susie Ibarra.

Often I am asked about the abstract nature of my works. People see abstraction as…

Continue Reading →

[Read part 5]

After spending six and a half years as a National Scholar in Tokyo to study Nihonga (Japanese Style Painting), in 1993 we returned to the United States. I was very fortunate to find a church home in a vibrant, movement oriented church in New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church. I found myself being challenged by Tim Keller’s vision for the city, and the church’s attitude toward culture: “We need to love the city, and be for the city, not against, or of the city.”

The Prodigal Son God

When Tim is asked what his favorite passage of the Bible is, he always speaks of Luke 15, the prodigal story. But I noticed that he never spoke of the story as a “prodigal son” story. He …

Continue Reading →

[Read Part 4]

I am a “Ground Zero” resident. My loft is three blocks from where the towers used to stand (see my essay “Fallen Towers and the Art of Tea”).

Ground Zero Art

After 9/11, I began working on a series called “Water Flames” based on poems by T. S. Eliot and Dante. When monochromatic layers are executed well on Kumohada (i.e. hand-lifted Japanese paper), the paper’s buckling produces patterns akin to flames. Paradoxically, water-based pigments create flame-like patterns. In this series, as I began defining forms, I looked for particular patterns that the paper makes.

As I daily faced Ground Zero, I needed to use my imaginative capacity to turn the dark forces bringing destru…

Continue Reading →

[Read Part 3]

Jesus tells us to “consider the lilies” (Matthew 6:28), instead of being “anxious about life, what you will eat or what you will drink” (Matthew 6:25). I consider this passage to be a crucial step that needs to be taken, before we are able to “seek the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). To assist us in taking this step, we benefit much from the artist’s observation and depiction of the outer and inner worlds, and from the poet’s capturing of complex experiences and nuances of life, to help us grow in our capacity to love our neighbors and even enemies, and to empathize with the needs of our world.

“Consider the Lilies” is done with over sixty layers of finely pulverized pre…

Continue Reading →

[See part two.]

A Personal Note About the Tragedy in Japan:

In the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that took away so many lives in northern Japan, and the subsequent nuclear power plant crisis, I am struggling to comprehend the magnitude of destruction and ensuing suffering of the beautiful nation which has served as an aesthetic basis for my work.

Some of the coastal seascapes that served as a foundation for Japanese art by Tawaraya Sotatsu, masterpiece of 17th century (at Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian) are now forever altered.

This post on "Jesus wept"—so appropriate for the moment—and the additional passages of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 13:34) haunt me as I see the…

Continue Reading →

Tim Keller, at the inaugural exhibit celebrating The Four Holy Gospels at New York City's Dillon Gallery—

I’m so grateful for a new illuminated Bible. . . According to Christian theology, the Illuminator is the Holy Spirit, and therefore I believe from what I can see that the Illuminator has illumined the illuminator of the Illuminated Bible, and will continue to illuminate through both the images and the words.

The Project’s Beginning

In 2009 Lane Dennis, president of Crossway publishing, inquired about a commission celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. When he initially proposed The Four Holy Gospels, an exquisitely designed and produced edition of the four ca…

Continue Reading →