Artmaking and Community by Revd Tom Studman
During my curacy in Manchester Diocese, I have been able to explore the importance of artmaking. We can nurture our faith and discover more of the beauty of God through making art. Makoto Fujimura describes how we can listen to the voice of the maker and feel the compassion of God as we create. I gained further insights doing a six-month artist in residency at Ascension Church in Hulme. One of Manchester Diocese’s hub churches, Ascension Church has a connection to HeartEdge (www.heartedge.org). This is an ecumenical movement galvanising churches to be at the heart of their communities, seeking to transform church and society through commerce, culture, compassion and congregational life.
In contemporary church life we can be captivated by scarcity. However, it is possible to flip our world view. What if we looked at the abundance and beauty of the contexts our churches are in? What if we could see opportunities all around us? It is in this spirit that Ascension Church, Hulme is connecting with the local community, celebrating the gifts of local people, welcoming all and working together. Led by the Spirit at the start of my residency, in late summer 2021, I sensed God directing me towards a participatory art project.
As I prayed into what we might create as a community, I was inspired by a Dutch Theologian, Edward Schillebeechx. We believe in a God of freedom. God is the golden thread that runs through our lives, giving light and life. However, Schillebeeckx demonstrated that salvation can only be imaged and articulated in counterpoint to the concrete reality of suffering. He described suffering as the scarlet thread that runs through human history and God as the golden thread of human liberation that runs through time. This interplay between suffering and liberation ties into the history of Hulme.
This theological insight became the heart of a collaborative art project called the Scarlet and Golden Thread. The 16m installation spanning our balcony, portrays freedom symbolised in gold acrylic, metallic pigments, gold leaf and fabrics. Suffering is an invasive thread of scarlet paint and fabric. It captures our lived human experience of freedom and suffering. Alistair Gordon exploring art as communication writes how art, “appeals to both our reason and our imagination. Art tells a story, and sometimes this has more power than making a statement of fact”. Artmaking is engaging and the community keenly responded to our invitation to get involved.
As I worked with local schools, a theological college, the church Sunday congregation, individuals and a local art club, the artmaking became a means of exploring our experiences and hearing one another’s stories. Some primary school children, with their profound insight, wrote into the artwork words they associate with suffering. These included: war, kidnapping, suicide, slavery, sleeplessness, depression, betrayal, sadness, nightmares and more. People’s stories revealed that out of suffering hope dawned and the freedom of God’s presence was felt amid all the difficulties. One person symbolised this in the form of a flower, describing how the suffering had become a beautiful thing through which God’s freedom had been found, bursting through the challenges.
There were encounters with beauty as the raw materials of pigments fused forming shapes and textures, saturated with meaning. Now installed in the church people can dwell with the artwork. James K.A. Smith writes about how contemporary art does not always give up easy ‘nuggets of sentiment’ rather it invites us to slow the ‘frenetic pace of incessant distraction’ and pause and dwell. I’m confident the artwork will continue to speak to those who view the installation. The stories the artwork encapsulates are poignant. Marks made by so many in the community, merge and entwine, dancing together. The big picture is beautiful, and the micro pictures contained within each panel, represent individuals’ thoughtful artmaking. Creativity has been exercised and all those who took part enjoyed themselves and were able to explore the deep themes of suffering and freedom.
The Revd Tom Studman is an Assistant Curate and former Artist in Residence at Ascension Church Hulme, and a member of ArtServe.