A Theology of Making, with Makoto Fujimura

This episode features a conversation  we originally hosted on Friday, January 29th with artist and author Makoto Fujimura on his recent book  Art + Faith: A Theology of Making. Mako says, “I now consider what I do in the studio to be theological work as much as aesthetic work. I experience God, my Maker, in the studio. I am immersed in the art of creating, and I have come to understand this dimension of life as the most profound way of grasping human experience and the nature of our existence in the world. I call it the “Theology of Making.”

We hope you enjoy this conversation exploring the theological work of creating.

Learn more about Makoto Fujimura.

Watch the full Evening Conversation and read the transcript from January 29th, 2021.

Thanks to Windrider Productions and The Rabbit Room for their partnership on the event with Mako on January 29.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

William Blake
N.T. Wright
Esther Meek
The Gift, by Lewis Hyde
Bruce Herman
T.S. Eliot
Amanda Gorman
David Brooks
Richard Mouw

Learn more about Kintsugi.

Related Trinity Forum Readings and Resources:

• God's Grandeur , a Trinity Forum Reading by Gerard Manley Hopkins 
• Revelation, a Trinity Forum Reading by Flannery O’Connor 
• Letters from Vincent van Gogh, a Trinity Forum Reading by Vincent van Gogh
• Hannah and Nathan, a Trinity Forum Reading by Wendell Berry
• Culture Care: Mending to Make New, an Online Conversation with Mako Fujimura on August 7, 2020.
• Culture Care, an Evening Conversation with Mako Fujimura on September 19, 2017.
• Soul Care, an Evening Conversation with Mako Fujimura on March 31, 2016.

Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist whose process driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time”. In addition to his work as an artist Mako is an author whose works include Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture and his just released work Art + Faith: A Theology of Making. Mako is also a senior fellow of the Trinity forum. 

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for the artwork and Andrew Peterson for the music!