Art as a living theology: exploring artists' vocation

In this thesis, I demonstrate that the method of practice-based research originating in the fine art discipline can be successfully accommodated by the discipline of theology. I claim that Christian (visual) artists can acquire, create and share knowledge through their art practice, a topic that has not been addressed in Catholic theological scholarship properly. Although some Church documents have mentioned the importance of Christian artists to building human civilisation and culture, they do not focus on artists’ experience with making and perceiving art as creating and gaining visual knowledge, and as a way of personal discernment forming artists’ identity. The traditional understanding of art in Churches was to transmit a theological message while keeping high aesthetic standards. This perception of the arts has been changing gradually in favour of using art as a common ground for dialogue between Christians and other people also. Artists operate with a powerful visual language that transforms theological knowledge through art practice in two directions: by understanding it and by sharing what is understood. By combining art practice with theological reflection, I have created a new methodology that can visually discuss fundamental theological questions regarding the doctrine of soteriology. Its crucial part is a technique of theological thinking that I call art as a living theology for which I use a method of theological visualisation, which allows the movement of the topic in question from verbal and textual discourse into visual propositions. This doctoral thesis documents the process of the development, application and evaluation of my proposed methodology. It promotes the creative process as a way of doing theology, as well as a way of building a Christian understanding of artists’ personal vocation, including the responsibility for human development as members of the Church and citizens of the world.