Toto Orbe Diffusum II Painting

Art exists in the flow of history, but has history become time, an endless succession of moments without any point of reference? My studio practice attempts to grapple with this question, recognizing that a lack of an apparent answer signals a real tension rather than a predetermined outcome. My practice and research challenge the notion of the historical inevitability of anything. One area of contemporary life that is marked by an assumption of inevitable mutual incomprehension and indeed separation is the relation between the realms of secularity and religion. As a priest and an artist, I stand in the breach of these two spheres of knowledge and action. This hybridity is also within me. My artistic practice and priestly existence do not so much seek to reconcile these two realms, rather the tension between the two is a fruitful source of my creativity. In my art I draw on the energy of each in order to engage in a process of transformation and exploration. This contested space is a site for new artistic discoveries.