This is our unabridged interview with Makoto Fujimura.

Makoto Fujimura occupies an unusual intersection of personal realities: He is an abstract expressionist artist who discovered his Christian faith as an art student in Japan. He continually finds himself trying to bridge the divide between religion and art. “I can't really talk about my faith with my artist friends, and I can't talk about art with my Christian friends,” he says. “But for me, it's never been that way.” In this episode, he talks about how he uses traditional Japanese methods of painting — “slow art,” as he calls it — to explore grief, brokenness, and healing.

Show Notes

Resources mentioned this episode:

“Art and Faith: A Theology of Making” by Makoto Fujimura (Yale University Press)

Examples of Mako’s Paintings

The Four Holy Gospels

"Silence" by Shūsaku Endō

Similar NSE episodes:

Drew Holcomb and Audrey Assad: Vulnerable Art

Christian Wiman: Poetry Against Despair

Poetry as Politics: Poet Laureates Tracy K. Smith and Marie Howe

Transcript of Abridged Interview

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