Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture

A collection of essays, thoughts, and prayers from award-winning artist Makoto Fujimura, Refractions brings people of all backgrounds together in conversation and meditation on culture, art, and humanity."Like his art, Makoto Fujimura's essays harbor a depth of luminosity that requires and rewards patient contemplation. This collection is an important contribution to the conversation between faith and art and between art and our beautiful, broken world.""Art addresses us in the fullness of our being.... There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories or songs or images. Art awakens, enlarges, refines, and restores our humanity." — Dana Gioia, National Education Association chairmanFROM THE AUTHOR"The culture at large is neither 'Christian' nor 'secular' but fantastically pluralistic, defying conventional categorizations. In each culture we will no doubt find evidences of trauma, like the ashes of Ground Zero. . . . We can choose to disengage from such intractable reality as our hearts struggle to find rest in such exilic ground as Hiroshima, Auschwitz, Darfur, Afghanistan, and so on. Or we can accept the splintered condition of culture as a kaleidoscope of common struggles, a reality that only the golden rays of God can restore and recreate via broken humanity. The latter is my starting promise in writing this book. As you journey with me in this refracted light, I pray the Spirit will indeed reveal God's presence in the undiscovered recesses of our creative journeys." (Makoto Fujimura)