The Religious Art of Jan Hynes
Jan Hynes is a contemporary artist living and working in Townsville, Queensland. She has painted many gospel stories in bright modern colours setting them in Townsville: in the Visitation, Mary and Elizabeth meet over coffee and mudcake; the Nativity is set, not in a stable, but in a service station with Joseph shown as a tradie and Mary carrying the shopping (see detail, left); she shows the adoration of the Magi on the Strand with Jesus being pushed in a stroller. Rooted in the local, Hynes situates the bible scenes in her neighbourhood on the coast of Queensland. Images of local plants, birds, and views of Magnetic Island establish a distinctively Australian context for us to rethink the gospel narrative. Continue reading “THE SCANDAL OF BARE FEET”
The traditional art of making an icon is an exacting process requiring much skill and knowledge that can only be acquired over a long period of dedicated commitment to the art. The method that aligns best with the essence of the icon is classical painting with egg tempera, a technique of unknown origins from deep within the ancient world. Adopted and perfected by the icon painters of the early church in Byzantium, the technique has been passed down almost without change to be employed by the few icon painters in our age whose practice remains true to the tradition. 
The Art of William Robinson
My name is Olga Bakhtina. Once in a while, people ask me why I paint Christian scenes. Every time the question comes up it surprises me. What does make a mostly self-taught contemporary artist like me paint Christian stories when so few people do? 
Dr Rebekah Pryor is a visual artist and writer living and working on Boonwurrung/Bunurong Country southeast of Melbourne, Australia. She was a finalist in the 2018 Blake Prize and, from 2015-2018, the curator of Lamppost Gallery, a space dedicated to exploring contemporary art and Christian spirituality. She is an honorary postdoctoral associate at Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity. In 2021 she coedited Contemporary Feminist Theologies: Power, Authority, Love (Routledge) and her forthcoming book Motherly: Reimagining the Maternal Body in Feminist Theology and Contemporary Art is due for publication in early 2022. 
Arthur Boyd’s wife, Yvonne, commented that Arthur was very fond of Saint Francis. This was undoubtedly true and yet in his perceptive and idiosyncratic way our artist turns the medieval legend on its head. The saint’s values of human brotherhood, non-materialism and engagement with nature are preserved, while the proselytising and, in Boyd’s eyes, control over others is sternly rejected. The medieval Francis felt himself to be divinely inspired while Boyd in the 20th century was alone with his fragile yet dogged sense of his own humanity. 
The following notes on the meanings of various colours have been taken largely from Schuon (1956) and Cirlot (1984) for the major references to symbolism whilst Sloane (1980), Varley (1980) and Gage (1993) were mainly used for the more contingent or subjective meanings. 
First Impressions: Indigenous works from the ACU Art Collection (Australian Catholic University, 2020).
This figure of the pregnant Mary, carved and painted by George Mung Mung (c1920–1991), is a significant work of Christian art and devotion that reflects the merging of Catholic and Aboriginal communities and systems of belief in Australia. 
I acknowledge the Traditional Owners who have walked and cared for this land for thousands of years and their descendants who maintain these spiritual connections and traditions …