Light in the darkness

Welcome to my favourite season of the year, and this month's blogpost. Last Sunday, I was able to robe and join clergy colleagues as we took part in the Advent Carol Service, a procession from darkness to light. This was my first ministerial duty for several months, as I have had to set aside this aspect of my public ministry since the summer, in order to focus on catching up with icon commissions, alongside a new academic year for my Masters in Fine Art. On the Monday (the following day), there was a quick shift of gear, as I was in Oxford installing the interim show, an exhibition of our work over the past semester. So, this seems like a good opportunity to give you a sneak preview of what I have been up to since the start of term.

from this ^^^

to this ...

This year's work is all about developing my contemporary art practice, choosing a subject to research and to explore it through creating work. For me, that has meant focussing my attention on the centrality of the 'Word of God', both in the form of Scripture and as a designation for Christ, in the way that we communicate our faith. I have felt frustrated on many occasions over the past twenty years or so of studying theology by how often we depend upon the written word to explain something that is, at its essence, ineffable and transcendent. How can words speak genuinely and meaningfully about the spiritual realms? Of course, my iconographic practice has become one response to this. Within that tradition, the strangeness of seeing that is evident in the ways icons are painted, in their treatment of light and negation of deep shadow, or in their unfamiliar use of perspective, for example, is a theological statement about the otherness of the spiritual realms in which the saints now live. But what of a more contemporary expression of this?

Through the past three months, I have begun work by disrupting the way we read text. Overlaying different letters, cutting away letters, embossing letters without ink, printing words that have no apparent meaning, creating text that can only be seen from certain perspectives but which is invisible from others - I have produced a range of art that invites us to question the assumptions we bring when reading that which is written in black and white. I have used pages from an antique Bible (donated generously for this purpose) to bring Scripture into dialogue with my work. I have questioned how editorial decisions can skew the way we understand reality, and how words can be used to twist the truth and manipulate others.

twist and manipulate (featuring the words of the so-called friends of Job)

Through this work, I have been drawn into reflections on light and darkness (rather topical for this Advent season), both in the way that light can impact the legibility of text but also metaphorically; to be enlightened is to understand, whereas "those who dwell in deep darkness" are those who lack understanding. So I have questioned how our understanding is created, and when God, the Divine energy, said "Let there be light". When we read, do we derive understanding for ourselves, or are we simply accepting another's viewpoint? How can we adjust the way we approach text so that we come with an attitude of genuine enquiry rather than as consumers of a given narrative. These are certainly important questions in a world of fake news and inflammatory rhetoric.

Reflecting theologically through creative practice has also prompted me to think about how much meaning is created by us as part of a wider community. Much of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, was written in order to foster a sense of belonging, the creation of communities with a shared identity as God's people. As I watch the precipitous way in which most of the people around me are celebrating the festive season, I wonder how much of this impatience is derived from a desire to be a part of something, to acknowledge a togetherness at a time when so much of our national discourse and world order seems to speak of fragmentation. As we come together for carol services and nativity plays, we celebrate our part in a narrative so much greater than our individual selves. We don't just celebrate the story of a baby born in Bethlehem, we derive comfort from knowing that because of this season, we are in some way united with more people than we might imagine - we find a sense of belonging.

These reflections will no doubt underpin my continued practice as we enter the New Year and I hope can inspire you to reflect for yourself. How do you engage with the written word and in what ways do you investigate its authority? The text in question may be the Bible, a newspaper, a social media post or online article - whatever it is, we are called to bring our whole selves to the endeavour and to question what this text means, and in what way it might (or might not) be true for us personally or more generally. I shall begin 2026 with a long-overdue time of retreat, so there will not be a blog post at the beginning of January; I shall take time to reflect upon all that the past year has held and to discern where I am being called to belong. So for now, I send Advent blessings to you all, as we await the unfolding narrative that reminds each of us that our story is part of Christ's story, that the gift of Christmas is knowing our place in a world that God-incarnate came to save.

News

If you are interested in viewing my MFA show, this opens in Oxford with a preview, 6-8pm on Monday 8 December in the Glass Tank exhibition space. Let me know if you wish to come and I can give you directions and parking details.

If you cannot make it in person, I am in the process of developing a new section of my website, where you will find details of my contemporary practice. You can find it here.

Meanwhile, two of my recent icon commissions have reached their intended recipients. One is a Christmas gift, so the finished image will have to be kept under wraps for a while longer. The other is the new Tewkesbury Abbey children's icon; I was there giving a talk for the local chapter of the Society of Catholic Priests last week, and presented the icon to Fr Nick. However, it will not be introduced formally to the congregation in worship until mid-January. My last icon commission of the year is well on its way towards completion, so you will have to accept a photo of that in place of any completed work this month!

If anyone is looking for a Christmas gift, I have icon prints available in four designs: St John the Baptist, Compassion, and Julian of Norwich, all in a single mount for standard frame size 12" x 10". And St Photina (the woman at the well) double-mounted for a larger, 16"x20" frame.

Click here to drop me a message if you would like to order a copy (10% discount for more than one). Order by Thursday 18th for Christmas delivery.

I have a number of talks and quiet days lined up for the New Year, the first of which is with the Tewkesbury Theological Forum on Wednesday 21 January, 7.30pm until 9.30pm, when I shall be taking as my theme "Worshipping the Lord in the beauty of holiness - icons as images of transcendence". If you would like to invite me to give a talk for your community, please do get in touch.

And looking ahead to later in the year, early bird booking has already opened for my next Praying with Icons retreat at the beautiful Launde Abbey, 7-9 September 2026. More details here

If you enjoy reading my blog and wish to support my ministry in a practical way, I have set up a page with "Buy me a coffee". This website, designed with creatives in mind, recognises that a whole load of my time goes into maintaining a website, keeping up with social media and writing blog posts, time that is not then available for income-generating work. Given that my passion for good coffee comes not very far behind my love for God and art (!), if you feel so inclined, you can click here to make a donation towards my ongoing ministry (but without any obligation to do so). Huge thanks to those of you who have bought me a coffee in previous months - please don't feel you have to every time or at all!