Art & Altars: Reflections on Contemporary Art and Contemporary Christianity

Tessa Davidson

Art & Altars: Reflections on Contemporary Art and Contemporary Christianity

Harding University

Research output: Thesis › Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

This essay provides a backdrop to my developments as a visual artist and a spiritual seeker—and the collision of these two identities during my time at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. My experience at NHIA has helped me discover how contemporary art practices beautifully embody my closely-held Christian beliefs while also bearing resemblance to many forms of spiritual expression in the Bible. In this paper, I discuss the relationship between contemporary art, my studio work, and my artistic influences with the Biblical concepts of incarnation, parable, and prophetic performance. I also discuss the inspiration surrounding my thesis studio project Altar Ego . In this multi-media project, I probe at the flawed underpinnings of the current distortions of Christianity and symbolically explore a vision of faith which stems from a selfless and relational approach to the Divine.

Original language	American English
Qualification	Ph.D.
Awarding Institution	New Hampshire Institute of Art Manchester, NH
Supervisors/Advisors	Patricia Miranda, Craig Stockwell, Advisor, External person
State	Published - Jan 2018

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities

Access to Document

Tessa Davidson Thesis (Final).pdfFinal published version, 1.29 MBLicense: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Art & Altars: Reflections on Contemporary Art and Contemporary Christianity",

abstract = " This essay provides a backdrop to my developments as a visual artist and a spiritual seeker—and the collision of these two identities during my time at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. My experience at NHIA has helped me discover how contemporary art practices beautifully embody my closely-held Christian beliefs while also bearing resemblance to many forms of spiritual expression in the Bible. In this paper, I discuss the relationship between contemporary art, my studio work, and my artistic influences with the Biblical concepts of incarnation, parable, and prophetic performance. I also discuss the inspiration surrounding my thesis studio project Altar Ego . In this multi-media project, I probe at the flawed underpinnings of the current distortions of Christianity and symbolically explore a vision of faith which stems from a selfless and relational approach to the Divine. ",

author = "Tessa Davidson",

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school = "New Hampshire Institute of Art Manchester, NH",

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AB - This essay provides a backdrop to my developments as a visual artist and a spiritual seeker—and the collision of these two identities during my time at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. My experience at NHIA has helped me discover how contemporary art practices beautifully embody my closely-held Christian beliefs while also bearing resemblance to many forms of spiritual expression in the Bible. In this paper, I discuss the relationship between contemporary art, my studio work, and my artistic influences with the Biblical concepts of incarnation, parable, and prophetic performance. I also discuss the inspiration surrounding my thesis studio project Altar Ego . In this multi-media project, I probe at the flawed underpinnings of the current distortions of Christianity and symbolically explore a vision of faith which stems from a selfless and relational approach to the Divine.

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

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