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#2021 - Tuesday, January 4, 2005 - Editor: Jerry
Dustin http://www.livejournal.com/users/iamom/
looking for meaning in all the wrong places
Just got off the phone with my wife. We were discussing our
afternoon schedules, and mine includes a full-body CT scan to
follow up re the growth in my throat. I thought to myself that we
could just as easily be discussing an errand like the groceries,
for all the extra importance we added to the event.
This is not a negative thing. It's just a telling point about the meaninglessness of it all: the inherent meaninglessness of the vicissitudes of daily life. Events unfold neverendingly, but always without real meaning or effect on the raw consciousness itself. It's beautiful that nature works in this way. There's no pain OR gain, just consciousness, with only the apparent happenings rippling throughout. (Though, neither are those there, either...)
Shout outs to those helping out re the tsunami affected, by the way. In Canada, all personal donations made up to January 11th will be matched by the federal government and may also be applied towards our 2004 tax returns. Reason number 4,302 for why I love living here.
David Spero
David responds to Highlights #2006 -- http://nonduality.com/hl2006.htm -- which was devoted to Adi Da Samraj. David speaks from the place of Shakti or Divine Force which, it is clear from his confession, "he is".
~ ~ ~
Dear Editors,
Please remember that Adi Da Samraj, who is quoted below,
surrendered to the Transmission-Feet of two living Shakti
Masters, Rudrananda ("Rudi") and Swami Muktananda, in
order to complete his own sadhana. And the culmination of Da's
sadhana occurred in the Vedanta Temple (in Southern California),
when He merged, in a heated sexual embrace, with the living force
of Kali--the Divine Mother or the Divine Mother Consciousness.
In Parabhakti & Shakti,
David www.davidspero.org
Books on nondual perception and music from
http://www.100thmonkey.com/music.html
Sorry, no links to ordering the books.
The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from
the Heart
Madeline Bruser (1997) 272pages
This book is about how to free ourselves from physical and
emotional tension as we practice so that we can unleash our
innate musical talent. When our fingers get tied up in knots in a
difficult passage, we can loosen up and find a comfortable way to
play it. When we're struggling to create a perfectly shaped
phrase, we can stop to notice each sound and discover the
subtleties we've looking for. By giving ourselves room to relax,
we awaken our vital energies instead of stifling them. This book
grew from seminars called "The Art of Practicing" that
I began giving to musicians in 1985. My own work as the piano had
changed radically in the late 1970s, when I started practicing
mindful meditation.... Part One of this book describes our common
experience with the initial inspiration to make music and the
ensuing struggle of practicing. Part Two presents the ten steps
of the Art of Practicing, which are divided into four groups of
techniques: preparatory steps, physical techniques, psychological
techniques, and sensory and intellectual techniques. Part Three
discusses performing a natural outcome of healthy
practicing....Above all, I wish to encourage musicians to trust
their experience of their own bodies and minds, and to believe
that within their struggle and confusion lie the passion and
intelligence that are keys to joyful , productive practicing and
powerful performing. - from the author's Introduction ( Bell
Tower / Harmony /Crown)
Cosmic Music: Musical Keys to the Interpretation of
Reality - essays by Marius Schneider, Rudolf Haase, Hans Erhard
Lauer
Edited by Joscelyn Godwin (1989) 255pages
The idea that the universe is created out of sound or music (and
therefore is music) is a very ancient one. In this book, Joscelyn
Godwin brings together three contemporary German thinkers who
exemplify this tradition in its modern variants: Marius
Schneider, Rudolf Hasse, and Hans Erhard Lauer. The selection
draws on ancient Indian sources and mythology; Kepler's Platonic
vision of a musical, geometric universe; and the evolution of the
tone systems of music. While every music lover senses the power
and truth that reside in music, very few approach music as a path
to cosmic knowledge. Godwin takes literally Beethoven's assertion
that "Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom or
philosophy." He writes: "...to penetrate the mysteries
of music is to prepare for initiation into those fathomless
mysteries of man and cosmos. One's discoveries will be pregnant
with implications for every department of life..." (Inner
Traditions)
Creating an Imaginative Life
Michael Jones (1995) 202pages + full-length music CD
There is a story living in us that speaks of our place in the
world. It is a story that invites us to love what we love and
simply be ourselves. The story is not given to us, it flows
naturally from within; to hear it we have only be silent for a
moment and turn our face to the wind. -Michael Jones (Conari
Press)
Harmonic Experience: Tonal Harmony from Its Natural
Origins to Its Modern Expression
W.A.Mathieu (1997) 563pages
Harmonic Experience offers a comprehensive view of music that
reconciles the ancient harmonic system of just intonation with
the modern system of twelve-tone equal temperament. Saying that
"the rules of music were not found in our brains but in the
resonance chambers of our bodies," W.A.Mathieu recognizes
the pronounced need for an experiential kind of teaching that
reconnects the way we think music with the way we do music.
Mathieu provides over one thousand musical examples and diagrams
to illustrate the ideas he presents, allowing readers to reach a
deeper level of response, to hear existing musical compositions
more clearly, and to become thoroughly engaged in their own
musical creativity. (Inner Traditions)
The Magic Flute Unveiled: Esoteric Symbolism in Mozart's
Masonic Opera - An Interpretation of the Libretto and the Music
Jacques Chailley (1971) 336pages + Index
Solving one of music history's most illusive mysteries, Jacques
Chailley sets out to disprove the enduring myth that The Magic
Flute suffers from an incomprehensible libreto. He establishes
the social, historical, and religious context of Mozart's
brilliant final opera, presenting compelling evidence that the
entire libretto by Emmanuel Schikaneder (and others), sustained
by Mozart's music, was fashioned according to Masonic ritual.
Chailley, a professor of music history at the Sorbonne and author
of 40,000 Years of Music , reveals the coherence of the opera and
the hidden significance of its characters and situations. He
relates each of these elements to the esoteric tradition from
which they emanate and to Mozart's own involvement with the
Masonic brotherhood. (Inner Traditions, 1992)
The Music of Life
Hazrat Inayat Khan (1983) 353pages
The mystery of sound is mysticism; the harmony of life is
religion. The knowledge of vibrations is metaphysics, the
analysis of atoms is science, and their harmonious grouping is
art. The rhythm of form is poetry, and the rhythm of sound is
music. This shows that music is the art of arts and the science
of all sciences; and it contains the fountain of knowledge within
itself." "Music should be healing; music should uplift
the soul; music should inspire. There is no better way of getting
closer to God, of rising higher towards the spirit, of attaining
spiritual perfection than music, if only it is rightly
understood." The Music of Life is the definitive collection
of Hazrat Inayat Khan's teachings on sound, presenting the Sufi
Master's vision of the harmony which underlies and infuses every
aspect of our lives. With deep insight and wisdom, he explores
the science of breath, the law of rhythm, the creative process,
and both the healing power and psychological influence of music
ad sound. (Omega Publications,1988)
The Secret Lore of Music: The Hidden Power of Orpheus
Antoine Fabre d'Olivet (1767-1825) translated by Joscelyn Godwin
(1987) 180pages
The book serves two purposes. One is to share my affection and
respect for Fabre d'Olivet, a curious and unique personality
whose views on history and cosmology are still worth learning
from. The second is to make available the most collection
possible of Fabre d'Olivet's writings on music. These contain a
host of ideas, expressed in nontechnical language, concerning the
nature of music and its effects on the human race. There is
probably no better introduction to the "Golden Chain of
Orpheus," those philosophers who have kept alive the
esoteric approach to music from ancient times to our own day,
than the work of Fabre d'Olivet. - from the translator's
Introduction (Inner Traditions)
The Voice Book: for everyone who wants to make the most
of their voice
Michael McCallion (1988/98) 292pages
I have designed the book so that anyone without specialist
knowledge can follow the work process and make the best use of
one of our most important means of communication. So, this book
is for anyone who wishes to use his or her voice well.... The
voice is an expression of what is going on mentally and
physically in the speaker. It follows that we must find a way of
training the mental and physical processes involved so that we
produce in our voice and speech that we really choose to produce,
so that we communicate what we wish to communicate....The way we
live and the way we use our voice is our daily life is our basic
exercise. - from the author's Introduction (Routledge)
The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma - Music & the
Landscape of Consciousness
Joachim-Ernst Berendt (1983) Translated by Helmut Bredigkeit
(1987) 258pages
It is necessary to clarify the position of the author. Nada
Brahma is a mantra. A mantra has no author. Reflections on a
mantra can claim to have an author only insofar as the author is
a "catalyst." In many chapters of this book, its author
holds the function of "com-poser," someone who
"puts together." It is not a single author who speaks
here: there are many. The sound with which this book deals is
also a "sounding together," a chord formed by many
voices: from Lao-tzu to Niels Bohr, from Pythagoras to John
Coltrane, from the liberal psalmists to Hermann Hesse, from the
Zen master Hakuin to Werner Heisenberg. Everything- or almost
everything - put forth in this book has always been part of
humankind's knowledge, even when we have repressed it and
preferred not to know it. All we have to do is rediscover it,
make it conscious again. That is the main task of this book. -
from the author's Introduction (Destiny Books)
LAPIS MAGAZINE ONLINE
lapismagazine.org
INTERVIEW BY RALPH WHITE
Speaking with Jerry Wennstrom
(Oct 29th, 2004)
In 1979, Jerry Wennstrom, a rising star in the New York art world, intentionally destroyed his paintings and gave away his possessions and money. He spent well over the next decade wandering, seeking, and listening, relying only on his own intuition and an unconditional trust in the Universe to provide for him. In consciously emptying himself of his identity, Jerry was led on an extraordinary spiritual journey and ultimately, a return to creating art. In his new book, The Inspired Heart: An Artist's Journey of Transformation, Jerry tells the story of his metaphorical death and rebirth as an artist and as a man. The Inspired Heart is a self-portrait of the life of a man guided by a desire to connect to the divine, and armed only with an unwavering faith in Grace to sustain him. In sharing the tale of his remarkable survival and his surrender to life experience, Jerry writes that he hopes "to bring the mystery of this survival back to the tribe as a story."
1) Jerry, you wrote in The Inspired Heart "art was the church of the 1970's." Tell us about the art world in New York in the 1970's. What was your role in it?
J-In many ways the art scene in the late 70’s was something fashionably safe to hang our hats on. Art, and more importantly, the life of the artist had achieved celebrity status by the late 70’s. Artists doing some of the most ridiculous things imaginable were being heralded as the wisdom keepers of this new church. Most of us had read about the poor, starving artists of the past who had not been recognized until after their death. Somehow, there seemed to be an unconscious need to collectively repent the oversight. By the late 70s’ artists could do no wrong! They were no longer the fringy characters living quietly in the back alleys. Mainstream culture had discovered the back ally. It was Soho - the high-end hangout and place to be and be seen.
Art has always held some element of the sacred so there was
some legitimate reason for mainstream culture to eventually
recognize this area of possibility—late though it may have
been. The essential inner power of any true movement is illusive
and will vanish the moment it becomes recognizable as a form in
the world. The source of inspired breakthrough will always offer
up its gems in the lowlands of the unconscious where few of us
are willing to go. It is the loneliness and danger of the
landscape that keeps most of us at bay. Like the queen-muse
wandering incognito in a bad neighborhood, she goes where no
clever strategy and ulterior motive might recognize her and seek
to exploit her glory. There, where there is danger, she seeks
only authentic relationship and ruthlessly dismisses any
impersonations. Most of us however, hope to meet up with her at
the front of the bandwagon in the safety of the well-attended
party on the hill.
As far as my own role in all of this goes… I certainly had a
longing to join the party. However, this possibility never felt
real to me. Instead I trusted the beautiful and terrifying spirit
of the time that I intuited was beckoning us forward into some
new, unimaginable expression in the void. This is what I gave
myself to.
2) Most people cannot imagine the idea of intentionally
destroying works of art that had taken so much personal time and
energy to create. Why did you feel destroying your art was
necessary?
J-Einstein says, “ Matter never dies, it changes form.” If, as I suspected, art was beckoning us forward in the direction of some greater formless experience, then the “matter” and attachment to the objects of creation would only change form and offer up something unexpected and more alive. This is what the experience of destroying the art did for me. There is no question that the act of destroying my art and giving everything I owned away involved a huge risk. I was very aware that my initial impulse might have been misguided or even insane. Realizing this, it required every ounce of courage for me to trust the small seed of intuition and higher sense of beauty I perceived, enough to let it all go.
I sensed something important stirring within that needed my full attention. Fasting helped direct this attention inward, so I fasted for as long as it took for me to see what life was asking of me. I had no idea that the final expression of this focus would be to destroy my art and give everything I owned away. After a month-long fast, two choices became clear to me. I could keep doing what I was doing and continue to live as (what felt like) a fear-based idea of an artist, or I could give myself to some formless allurement that I can only describe as something that offered Life in full measure. Making this decision was not based on reason, so there was not the logical scenario guaranteeing some identifiable, beneficial outcome. With intuitive clarity I knew that these were my choices and I chose the formless allurement of life.
It is mostly in retrospect that the true gift of this choice
has revealed itself to me. I find it a bit ironic and something
of a cosmic joke, that, as an artist, I have been acknowledged
more for having destroyed my art than I ever was for creating it!
This paradox embodies the true spirit and deeper meaning of the
word “sacrifice,” which means, “to make sacred.”
We lay our dreams and precious attachments on the altar, with a
willingness to let them go forever, and the whole of our beloved
creation is sanctified and returned to us in ways we never would
have imagined.
3) In having no possessions, your story seems to indicate that
you were actually able to be more generous with those around you.
Why do you think this is?
J- Giving up possessions certainly set the conditions for acts
of immediate, uncalculated generosity. Unconditional trust
requires that we remain completely present and keenly aware of
the needs of the moment - we can’t afford to do otherwise
when we know our very life depends upon it! When we have nothing
more to lose, the ego has the potential of stepping out of the
way and allowing the needs and suffering of others to come into
the light for a compassionate response. We also develop some
long-forgotten sensibility of how to manifest what is truly ours.
We learn to metaphorically “paint” what we need on the
cave wall and then go out and catch the beast. There is an
efficiency that comes into play when we no longer depend upon the
accumulation of things to make us feel safe. We come to realize
that we need much less than we originally thought and the
emptiness we once feared becomes our greatest asset.
4) How did you survive during this time, often without money
and not knowing if you were going to eat on any particular day?
Could you please describe to us the nature of your faith that
enabled you to live like you did?
J- I survived by doing my best not to interfere, by trusting
unconditionally and by accepting every experience that came to me
as if it had been dealt by the hand of God. I could never have
continued this strange and lonely journey if I had not seen how
well this level of trust carried my life. The simple fact is, as
long as I did not act on my fears life continued to unfold
naturally, in the most miraculous of ways. If it had not, some
essential part of my humanity would not have survived. If I had
given into my fear and given up when things became difficult, my
journey would have been devoid of any real substance or
integrity.
5) You spent a great deal of time after your departure from
the art scene fasting, in celibacy, and in silence. What did you
learn from these sacrifices? And how did you satisfy your need to
express yourself during this time?
J-At some level I feel I did not choose fasting, celibacy and silence — they chose me. They were unexpected teachers and taught me things I never could have learned in any other way and I learned something different from each of them.
Fasting taught me how to find nourishment in an inspired moment and to trust and act on my intuition. It taught me the importance of right timing in relation to these actions. It taught me about places and moments of real power that nurture the soul, which then nurtures the body. There is nothing more insistent than hunger and the primal instinct of the mind bent on survival to set one off in the direction of the ”barn, so fasting taught me the fierce discipline of trust under any circumstances.
Celibacy taught me how to redirect my sexual energies and how to hold and become my own feminine and not project it onto every illusory attraction that promised comfort and fulfillment. It taught me to easily remain present with others, especially women, and to enter into the heart of communication without an agenda or the interference and confusion of personal desire.
To answer your question on how I satisfied my need to express myself; I would have to say that my ideas of how one personally expresses oneself did not hold up in the face of the demands of some larger expression. Like many of us, I feared the void and believed expression needed the channel of a literal form, perceivable by our 5 senses. I learned by facing my fears that this was not true and that the soul will always find a way to express itself. What I learned in a seemingly expressionless void was how to allow expression to come through in unexpected ways on its own terms. Sometimes it would be a glance; sometimes a word, and sometimes it would be a purely energetic experience - alone or in the presence of another person. Joseph Campbell writes in his book, The Inner reaches of Outer Space that the most sublime expression of art is formless and it leaves us in a state of awe. The mystics know about this level of expression. What I learned is that the universe will express itself with or without our willing participation or our ideas of how it should be done. The beauty of the human experience is to become a willing and grateful participant in the flow of inspired communication. Sometimes the flow of communication takes literal form and is perceived as art and sometimes it does not. An inspired moment is a reality in and of itself.
6) How was returning to sexuality after 15 years of celibacy? That must have been a powerful process. Are sexuality and creativity tied together in your world?
J- After 13 years of celibacy I became quite comfortable with the discipline and had finally accepted it as a way of life. However, it was exactly at this point that things changed for me, and I became involved in a kind of tantric exploration of sexual energies. This period lasted for about 4 years before I married at age 45. At the time I was following my intuition and knew nothing about the tantric experience. As a reliable guidepost, fear often led the way. I walked into the areas of my life that I feared the most. After becoming hugely invested in the disciplined life of celibacy for so many years, sexuality was one of those areas. It was sheer terror for me to return to the exploration of sexuality, fearing I would lose my way. While remaining just outside of full sexual expression, I learned how to hold the powerful energies of sexuality. This allowed for a veritable “Garden of Eden” experience to occur with another human being without “the fall.” And here-in lies another paradox. The “sexiest” time of my life was the time I spent exploring unfulfilled tantric sexuality!
7) You built a 40-foot stupa with your own hands on your property in Washington. (With virtually no background in carpentry!) Could you describe for us the importance of having sacred space in the desire to live a spiritual life?
J-Most lives have such an excess of packaging. It is important to set aside a special place where we honor the real substance of our lives and reverently express our holy longing. It is clear to me after building the tower, that the creation of a special place, even if it is a simple altar, pleases the gods and goddesses. When I built the tower, as you said, I was not a carpenter and had no idea what I was doing. However, the process of building the tower was pure magic for me. I worked long 15-hour days all summer that year and I was in bliss most of that time. Friends would arrive and help or offer the perfect advice. I would find what I needed, just as I needed it, at the local recycle. Everything fell into place so beautifully. And when the tower was complete, nine Tibetan monks literally happened along and blessed the tower with a 45-minute ritual. It was the monks who first called the tower the “Flaming Stupa.” Laura Chester followed suit in a chapter about the tower in her book “Holy Personal.” The name just stuck after that. It is interesting to me that my tower has gotten the attention that it has, since I did not know how to build when I started. I mentioned this fact to a friend who is an accomplished finish carpenter and he said, “If you knew you what you were doing you never have built anything that exotic!”
8) Earlier in your life, your artistic medium was paint. Your art now is more interactive, three-dimensional, and mechanical. How does this art more reflect your current life with Grace than the art you destroyed years back before your metaphorical death?
J-I guess you might say that the new art comes from a more conscious grace. There is a saying, “Fools and children are divinely guided and protected.” Like the fool, I guess my path as an artist was divinely guided in some mysterious way, for which I am most grateful. This is in spite of my willful attempt to control what I thought I was doing as a young artist. Fool’s guidance brought me to the proper edge where I could confront the possibility of a leap into the void. This confrontation offered me the opportunity to choose conscious Being over mindless doing.
I feel the new art is more an effortless expression of the
fullness of this Being. Now, all of the aspects of life are given
equal consideration, equal importance, and there is a mystery
that seems to come through the work that is larger than my
control. This mystery never fails to surprise me.
9) The materials you use to create these days are found
objects or objects that find you. You have used objects you have
come upon at garbage dumps, in nature, or people's discarded
items for your interactive art pieces. How does the seemingly
serendipitous way you come across materials for your art affect
your relation to your artwork?
J-Sometimes I feel as if the art pieces have a way of their
own and know what they need better than I do. Someone will give
me something or I will find a piece at the recycle yard and it
will fall perfectly into place on the art piece that I happen to
be working on at the time. One naturally feels blessed when this
happens. The feeling is one of humble gratitude for the presence
of a conscious universe. I am sure many artists have this
experience when they are deeply involved in the creative process.
It is as if, for just a moment, one becomes a willing participant
in the conscious expansion of the “Big Bang.” To feel
we are doing our part to allow the mystery a say in what we do,
brings about great joy and this joy translates to others.
10) There is a shamanic quality to the art you are creating. Do you think these pieces carry any magic with them?
J-It is difficult to say exactly where the magic resides, but
there is certainly a kind of magic that is available in any
creative process. Sometimes a work of art will carry with it
something of the eternal. This touch of the eternal is what we
call “great art” and we do so mostly without really
knowing why.
There may be something unconsciously shamanic about my art as you
suggest – others have said this. The shaman has the ability
to bring spirit into matter for the benefit of the individual,
the tribe and the collective whole. This is not unlike the role
of the artist, however, it is not as complete an experience for
the artist as it is for the shaman. Generally speaking, the
artist is someone who, rattling around the unconscious,
occasionally stumbles upon the prized “philosophers stone.”
It is a rare event for an individual to be thrown into the full
blast of a shamanistic death experience and to come out of it
fully awakened and able to translate the experience to others.
There are probably many more half-shamans walking the streets
these days, talking to themselves or conversing with spirits of a
questionable origin. The land of the shaman is not as easy to
inhabit as some would like us to believe.
11) Your story is the journey of one man's striving towards what you refer to as 'wholeness.' Could you please describe your concept of 'wholeness?' What do you think are the greatest obstacles in modern life to achieving wholeness?
J-Wholeness is the fullness of possibility available to all of us now, like never before. I would say wholeness is a powerful force coming through our collective consciousness and it is raising havoc with our small ideas of our relationships, our overall reality, and ourselves, as we know it!
The parents of the baby boomers had the luxury of living in a state of half-ness, where each partner in the relationship was able to happily occupy half of their whole story. Something was acceptably complete in what they held as a couple. The generations following the baby boomers have not been able to do this – even when, for sentimental reasons, they try. It is really a much deeper issue involving the masculine and feminine aspects of our selves. The problem begins when we project our undeveloped side onto another person. We then fall in love with our own reflection, exactly as we projected it. Seven years later we resent the person for the mysterious power they have over us—a power we had no business giving away in the first place!
In a particular kind of way, consciousness is demanding more of us now. I personally believe this is why there is such a high rate of divorce and why there is general discontent for anyone trying to live a partial life. When we least expect it, the undeveloped parts of ourselves crash the gates like unruly children refusing to be ignored.
We have an opportunity like never before, to transform first
ourselves and then our world, into something whole and fully
alive. There is some powerful new awareness coming through. It is
hovering in place, available to anyone open and willing to do the
necessary work required of our time.
12) So if art was the church of the 1970's, what do you think
is the church of our present decade?
J-Radical departure from the known and unknowing trust and openness to the mystery is the real “church!” The prayer required of this church is a fierce and courageous discipline and the ability to hold the tension of the polarities we are experiencing in our world. To accomplish this we must first be willing to turn and look at the shadow of our own creation and give this area of the psyche the conscious attention it needs. The false church is best represented by the projection of everything evil outward onto others. The most flagrant symptom of this disease is fundamentalism in all of its forms and our refusal to take responsibility for our part in what we see going on in the world around us.
Jerry Wennstrom is the author of “The Inspired Heart:
An Artist’s Journey of Transformation”; further
information on his life and art can be found at his web site www.handsofalchemy.com,
as well as in the Parabola video “In The Hands of
Alchemy: The Life and Art of Jerry Wennstrom" http://www.parabola.org/
PRESS RELEASE
PAINTING
AND PRAYERS FOR TSUNAMI VICTIMS
WHERE Institute of Contemporary Art, The Mall, LONDON
WHEN 7pm on Thursday 6th January, 2005
CONTACT Anthony Padgett
mobile:
07812 799521
Award winning international artist, Anthony Padgett, will lead interreligious prayers for tsunami flood victims at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London at 7pm on Thursday 6th January, 2005. This will take place as part of his lecture on the exhibition “100 Artists See God”.
Padgett will also be unveiling his painting in response to the disaster. The work took 7 days to do and is called “A Devil’s Tale”. Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed and Jesus are shown in Manchester United strips and David Beckham is shown with his previous ankle injury.
The religions of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India are depicted. These religions, and premier league football teams, have all been brought together by the disaster. They have been offering both prayers for the victims and providing financial support.
Padgett said “I hope David Beckham will buy the painting and I will give all the proceeds to the flood victims. It would be a great way for him to show support for all the people of a region that has followed his career closely.”
“Beckham has recently been depicted as a religious figure. In my painting I’m showing religious figures as football stars. Religious figures offer hope to people in times of injury and need.”
“The disaster has challenged peoples’ belief in God but it is by acts of kindness that the real meaning of religion (“religio” – to bind together) can be seen.”
Padgett will also be talking about the role of religion in contemporary art at the Tate Modern on Friday 28th January.
40
Mayfield Drive
MORECAMBE
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