The Fuller Blog
This Golden Sea painting, used for Fuller Christmas card, is a painting that is featured in my Golden Sea documentary. (I recommend reading the Roberta Ahmanson essay in the Golden Seacatalogue for detailed description regarding this painting.) Owned by Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, it will be a main featured work in the upcoming exhibit at her gallery space in Irvine in February.
The mystery behind the creation of the work, and the way the painting works visually is ideal for our Advent experience. The painting has many layers (about 60) of minerals, before the overlay of silk transfer technique that “breaks up” the gold leaf, creating a surface that makes the gold to advance and recede at the same time. There is a line that seems to define the horizon, but that seems liminal, and moves in and out of our vision as well.
The Advent is time of waiting, and anticipating the birth of Christ. Our lives need to become a beautiful, but broken, Golden surface that shimmers in the many layers of uncertainties, fears, and the mysteries of our existence. Art can reveal the horizon for such a journey and assist in receiving the greater Reality breaking in.
Blessings upon your Christmas Season,
Mako Fujimura
Director, Brehm Center
Mako Fujimura is the director of the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary. A world-renowned artist, his works have been exhibited across the globe, including in the galleries of New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Vienna. He is also the founder of the International Arts Movement and a former appointee to the National Council on the Arts.
Follow Mako Fujimura on Twitter: @iamfujimura
Follow Fuller Seminary on Twitter: @fullerseminary
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