Religion and Art: An Insider Perspective.

From my perspective as a working artist, both visual art and the connection with religion it enables are experienced non-verbally as at once fluid and deliberately ambiguous. An active spectator willing to engage art in the same way may find the emotional and intellectual space needed for her religion to evolve beyond adherence to existing dogmas. This paper explores the kind of theorizing within religion made possible by the process of making art with special reference to the creation of an artwork for the sanctuary of a church. After describing such examples from my own art and religion practice, I identify the theoretical ideas from phenomenology and neuroscience that have most influenced my work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]