Katie Kresser's guest appearances

Katie Kresser

The Image Podcast

The SPU Voices Podcast

Faith and Imagination: A BYU Humanities Center Podcast

Amy Julia Becker

Paul Willis

Malcolm Guite

Mark Eaton

Shane McCrae

Richard Rodriguez

Makoto Fujimura

James K. A. Smith

Sarah Bachelard

Carolyn Forché

Barbara Newman

Glen Scorgie

Norman Wirzba

Michael O’Brien

Elizabeth Harper

OwlTail

Katie Kresser is Professor of Art History at Seattle Pacific University and author of the 2019 book Bezalel’s Body: The Death of God and the Birth of Art. The book describes how art accentuates the relationship between the human and the divine. We talk about Katie’s theological and devotional vision of art and how she arrived …

Art as a Window onto the Divine, with guest Katie Kresser, Seattle Pacific University

I recently contributed a poem to a zine called Ethel. When the editor shared the cover art for the issue, it shocked the group of women in which it was shared–Christians, agnostics, churched and unchurched. The cover features a collage by artist Sara Lefsyk, in which an image of Mary as the Virgin of Guadalupe is overlayed by the instructional diagram from a box of tampons. Menstruating women see that same diagram every time they open a box of tampons. I remember studying that image for hours even before I started my period, finding it kind of mysterious and maybe even titillating. My body was already a mystery to me. This hadn’t changed much even by the time I had a baby at 29 years old. When the nurse asked if I wanted to watch my daughter crown, I recoiled. I couldn’t bear to look. What might it have meant to me to have grown up with images of Mary that showed her to have a body like mine, facing the same kinds of challenges and changes? How might it have altered my experience or perception of menstruation, childbirth, to connect the workings of my own body to the workings of a woman’s body deemed sacred and holy? Dr. Katie Kresser, Seattle Pacific University’s resident art historian, believes that great art teaches us that kind of empathy, unveils human nature, and forces us to think outside the box. “The great artists are the ones who have forced a paradigm shift, literally reshaping the outlines of human perception.” – Katie Kresser  Her essay, “Christ the Chimera: The Riddle of the Monster Jesus,” appeared in Image 99. In it, she revisits two controversial renderings of Christ from the late 1990s (see show notes below), explaining why they might have more to offer people of faith than our initial reactions assumed. Katie and I talked about many controversial images of Christ throughout art history, and I asked her, how can artists help people of faith to resist a deadening of their religious vision? How do artists destroy our schemas and disrupt the calcification of faith?    The Alexamenos Graffito in Jessica’s issue of Image 99      Resources: Cover of Ethel Zine by Sarah LefsykAndres Serrano, Piss ChristChris Ofili, The Holy Virgin MaryStephen Asma, “Monsters and the Moral Imagination”C.S. Lewis, “Christmas Reflection on God Descending”Colossians 1:17Bruce Herman, “A Hermeneutic of Humility,” Image 99Saints of Star Wars by Alex Ramos Credits Original music composed by Sister SinjinEpisode produced by Cassidy Hall and Roy Salmond. Don’t miss an episode: subscribe now on iTunes or Google Play. For exclusive content, updates, and sneak peeks at future episodes, become a Patreon supporter on Patreon.com/ImagePodcast. The post The Monster Christ with Katie Kresser appeared first on Image Journal.

I recently contributed a poem to <a href="https://www.ethelzine.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a zine called Ethel.</a> When the editor shared the cover art for the issue, it shocked the group of women in which it was shared–Christians, agnostics, churched and unchurched. The <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/653423826/ethel-volume-3?ref=shop_home_active_6&amp;frs=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cover features a collage by artist Sara Lefsyk</a>, in which an image of Mary as the Virgin of Guadalupe is overlayed by the instructional diagram from a box of tampons. Menstruating women see that same diagram every time they open a box of tampons. I remember studying that image for hours even before I started my period, finding it kind of mysterious and maybe even titillating. My body was already a mystery to me. This hadn’t changed much even by the time I had a baby at 29 years old. <a href="http://liturgy.co.nz/crowning-mary-giving-birth-to-jesus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">When the nurse asked if I wanted to watch my daughter crown, I recoiled. I couldn’t bear to look.</a> What might it have meant to me to have grown up with images of Mary that showed her to have a body like mine, facing the same kinds of challenges and changes? How might it have altered my experience or perception of menstruation, childbirth, to connect the workings of my own body to the workings of a woman’s body deemed sacred and holy? Dr. Katie Kresser, Seattle Pacific University’s resident art historian, believes that great art teaches us that kind of empathy, unveils human nature, and forces us to think outside the box. <blockquote>“The great artists are the ones who have forced a paradigm shift, literally reshaping the outlines of human perception.”  – Katie Kresser</blockquote> Her essay, <a href="/podcast/article/christ-the-chimera-the-riddle-of-the-monster-jesus/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Christ the Chimera: The Riddle of the Monster Jesus,”</a> appeared in Image 99. In it, she revisits two controversial renderings of Christ from the late 1990s (see show notes below), explaining why they might have more to offer people of faith than our initial reactions assumed. Katie and I talked about many controversial images of Christ throughout art history, and I asked her, how can artists help people of faith to resist a deadening of their religious vision? How do artists destroy our schemas and disrupt the calcification of faith? The Alexamenos Graffito in Jessica’s issue of Image 99 <h3>Resources:</h3> <ul><li><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/653423826/ethel-volume-3?ref=shop_home_active_6&amp;frs=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cover of Ethel Zine by Sarah Lefsyk</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/sep/28/andres-serrano-piss-christ-new-york" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Andres Serrano, Piss Christ</a></li><li><a href="https://www.moma.org/collection/works/283373" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Ofili, The Holy Virgin Mary</a></li><li><a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Monstersthe-Moral/48886" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stephen Asma, “Monsters and the Moral Imagination”</a></li><li><a href="http://www.cslewis.com/christmas-reflection-on-god-descending/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">C.S. Lewis, “Christmas Reflection on God Descending”</a></li><li><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A17&amp;version=NKJV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Colossians 1:17</a></li><li><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=bruce+herman+jonathan+anderson+Image+99&amp;rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS824US828&amp;oq=bruce+herman+jonathan+anderson+Image+99&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57.7744j0j7&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bruce Herman, “A Hermeneutic of Humility,” Image 99</a></li><li><a href="https://gregcookland.com/wonderland/2019/03/03/saints-star-wars/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Saints of Star Wars by Alex Ramos</a></li></ul> <h3>Credits</h3> <ul><li>Original music composed by <a href="https://www.sistersinjin.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sister Sinjin</a></li><li>Episode produced by <a href="https://cassidyhall.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cassidy Hall</a> and Roy Salmond.</li></ul> Don’t miss an episode: subscribe now on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-gina-ochsner-and-the-power-of-useless-art/id1248475220?i=1000389395658&amp;mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a> or <a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?pcampaignid=MKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16#/ps/Iiksupjro3pty72zsmlo3hw7gym" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play</a>. For exclusive content, updates, and sneak peeks at future episodes, become a Patreon supporter on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/ImagePodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patreon.com/ImagePodcast.</a> The post <a href="https://imagejournal.org/2019/03/01/monster-christ/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Monster Christ with Katie Kresser</a> appeared first on <a href="https://imagejournal.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Image Journal</a>.

The Monster Christ with Katie Kresser