Makoto Fujimura - Culture Maker

(Image from the sketchbook of illustrator John Hendrix.)

I came across Makoto Fujimura's blog, from a cover story at Christianity Today. Fujimura is a NY artist, who followed a call to move with his family from the suburbs into the city, a journey made more pronounced during 9/11. Fujimura, his wife, and children lived just three blocks from Ground Zero. Following the attacks, neighbors and fellow artists would gather together over coffee, to console, to mourn, and were pressed with the longing to create some kind of meaning. One question that continued to surface for Fujimura: "What is it that we have to deal with, this dehumanized reality that we are living in? What is the role of imagination in that?"

As someone who discovered Christ through the practice of Nihonga, a Japanese technique of watercolor incorporating layered pigment and metallic leaf, Fujimura recognized the process of art-making as a connection to the Divine, which Fujimura describes as "sublime grace", and saw the disconnect between the cultivation of beauty and the desperate and painful reality of daily life. He founded the International Arts Movement, with the mission to gather 'artists and creative catalysts to wrestle with the deep questions of art, faith and humanity in order to inspire the creative community to engage the culture that is and create the world that ought to be.'

Fujimura collects what he calls "Refractions", observations about life, culture and art on his blog. From a study of Rauschenburg and his faith to a reflection on how the Dillon Gallery, where Fujimara's work was on display, was host to both the recent wedding of his son, Ty, and a memorial service for a friend, Fujimura writes, "I now have a sense that my art should serve as a backdrop to the joys and sorrows of family and community. Art should mediate as a servant of humanity, to act as a theatrical backdrop to our human dramas.

Fujimura's work and observations, shaped by living intentionally in a city and collaborating with Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian, are suffused with richness. It was difficult to excerpt one "Refraction" from his blog - as every entry is compelling and thought-provoking. Spend some time with him here, and be deeply inspired.

posted by Christina @ 7:37 AM