A Feminist Understanding of Liturgical Art

Abstract

Among church folk in Australia today, there are concerns that soon ? with the surge of secularism in our society ? there will be no Christian tradition left for their children to inherit. At the same time, there is also a rising desire for spiritual renewal among Australians. It seems that the church and society are worlds apart. It is my contention that feminist liturgical artists are in a unique position to bridge the gap between the church and the world, and to promote the spiritual renewal of both. My task in this thesis is to devise a feminist model of liturgical art practice which is both aesthetic and prophetic. In this model, liturgical art is capable both of inspiring people to contemplate divine meanings and of calling the people to discipleship in the service of God in the world. It is also able both to encourage hope and challenge injustices. A balanced approach to the aesthetic and prophetic is suggested in Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza's (1992) four-step model of feminist research, which shapes my project. The principles which form the framework of my feminist understanding of liturgical art are widely applicable, and do not just apply to women. Even so, I maintain that women are more gifted than men at understanding the world in terms of relations rather than hierarchies. In the Catholic church today, we need this sense of relation more than ever. The church needs to be in creative relation with contemporary culture, or we are going to lose the young people from our ranks, and consequently our future. Within the church, the hierarchy needs to be in creative relation with the laity, and this requires a more collaborative approach to leadership ? including ministry. Within the liturgical environment, the church needs images which are able to draw heaven and earth into creative relation. These inclusive and holistic ideas are basic to a feminist practice of liturgical art as I describe it in this project. To demonstrate what such a practice might look like, I use examples from my own liturgical artwork. I aim to show how theory/theology and practice are inextricably interrelated in a feminist practice of liturgical art, and that practice precedes theory/theology, and that theory/theology leads to renewed practice. This has certainly been my experience while writing this thesis. The model of feminist liturgical art practice, which I formulate in this thesis, is postmodern. The largest theoretical challenge for me in this project was to come to terms with beauty theory, a conceptual framework which underpinned modernist art theory. By training and by inclination, I am disinclined to favour an art theory in which the highest value is beauty. Beauty theory was significantly deconstructed in the artworld in the 20th century and the new understandings of beauty arising today show the signs of paradigm shift. In the case of beauty theology, however, nothing comparable has caused theologians to significantly refigure their core value. Coming to terms with beauty theology was my largest theological challenge. My solution in both cases was to enlarge the category of beauty by adding ugliness. I call this category 'beautiful ugliness' (Boyd 1960, 200). However, 'beautiful ugliness' is not the focus of my aesthetic approach. I use 'life' as the core value. Into the mix of feminist postmodern art theory/theology, I add some elements of classical American pragmatism. In a pragmatic frame, ideas need to be tested out in the realities of everyday life. In line with my chosen core value, I use the terms life-relevant and life-enhancing (Miles 1985, 6) as criteria for testing the value of liturgical art. This project represents my attempt to draw a picture of what a feminist, postmodern, pragmatic, aesthetic/prophetic practice of liturgical art might look like in 21st century Australia. My hope is that there are other women and men artists, like myself, who work with 'passionate purpose' (Alexander 1933, 53) - driven by their faith in God; by their fidelity to the Christian tradition; by a desire to imaginatively explore, express and stretch the boundaries of that tradition; and by a powerful sense of place-connection and of community-belonging ? who will find this model useful and perhaps inspiring.