The paintings above were done by
Emmaus O'Herlihy, the current artist in residence at the Dominican Institute of Toronto.
I took down these hasty notes from the artist's remarks, the most memorable of which was his concept of sacred space.
- paintings require space, space to be seen, space which give place to 'the human gaze'
- the postmodern world is impacting sacred art
- theology is the connection between religion and culture, it is faith seeking understanding
- theory of the human gaze - bold enough to discover new words and new expression
- postmodernism demands that we retrieve the sacred in the contemporary, seek out new forms of subtler languages
- sacred art acting on our senses for a contemporary spirituality creating sacred space between the viewer and the painting
- the prodigal is the struggle of human nature, the refugee, the migrant crossing into lands not his
- emphasize on the gaze
- our wealth is the gaze of the Father's welcome, the face of Christ on us his prodigals
- viewer becomes involved in the dynamic of God's mercy, the loss and the regaining of the prodigal's identity
