Fall 2006: Divine Inspiration Download Here (PDF) Disclaimer: Due to file size limitations, the downloadable pdf of artMatters does not accurately represent the quality of the images featured.

“I don't believe paintings should preach, but all good art has something spiritual, something lyrical to it.” – Ellsworth Kelly 

The fall 2006 issue of artMatters focused on a few alumni who address spirituality in their artwork. Read below to find more alumni whose work centers on this topic.

Fahimeh Amiri                    Virginia Peck
Joseph A. Butler                 Amy Ross
Gay P. Cox                        Al Rubin
Karen Delio                        Melissa Shiff
May DeViney                      Angel (Vardas) Hunter
Reverend Cornelia DeLee

Fahimeh Amiri (Attended ’71) illustrates stories about the life of Buddha including The Prince Who Ran Away: The Story of Gautama Buddha (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2001) and The Monkey Bridge (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1997). Her newest book, The Life of Prophet Muhammad, will be available soon. 

Joseph A. Butler (Attended ’81–’83) was granted his Masters in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and makes digital photography.

Gay P. Cox (Diploma ’88) is pursuing Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church, and hopes to have a ministry among diverse and immigrant populations. She has shows at An Tua Nua in Boston in October 2006 and at Preston Cutler Gallery at Christ Church, Hamilton, Mass.

Karen Delio (Bachelor of Fine Arts/Bachelor of Arts ’00) won a Fulbright Scholarship to spend nearly a year in El Salvador researching the artwork El Vía Crucis (The Stations of the Cross).  This series of 14 drawings by Salvadoran artist Roberto Huezo is one of the few indigenous pieces that directly address the Salvadoran people’s suffering during that country’s civil war. Visit Huezo’s Web site.

May DeViney (Attended ‘96) feels that, in addition to its uplifting or spiritual benefits, religion retains many archaic rituals and attitudes that have aged badly, especially with regard to gender roles and human rights and privileges. Her work spotlights the creakiness of these customs by emphasizing their anachronistic inapplicability to an egalitarian modern society.

Reverend Cornelia DeLee (Attended ’71) is an ordained elder in the Arkansas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. 

Virginia Peck (Diploma ’83) creates paintings of the Buddha that arise from her interest in the human head and daily routine of yoga, meditation, and spiritual study. She has a show at Alpers Fine Art, Andover, Mass. in fall 2006. 

Amy Ross (Attended ’98–’00) studied religion at Harvard University’s Divinity School, which helped her make sense of her interfaith background. The sacrificial animal imagery she works on today symbolizes the unwitting participants in scenarios such as genetic engineering, where she feels scientists try to play God. 

Al Rubin (Diploma and Fifth Year Certificate ’69) makes silk screens of yogic ideas and shoots beauty photography for advertising agencies and magazines worldwide. 

Melissa Shiff (Bachelor of Fine Arts ’01) is a video, performance, and installation artist who focuses on rethinking, reinventing, and reinvigorating Jewish ritual. She will be the keynote artist at the Jewish Museum in Prague during its centennial celebration in fall 2006. 

Angel (Vardas) Hunter (Bachelor of Fine Arts ’97) is the art specialist for Holy Nativity School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Winter 2006: Illustrating a Point Download Here (PDF) Disclaimer: Due to file size limitations, the downloadable pdf of artMatters does not accurately represent the quality of the images featured.