Church Times - Betty Spackman: The art and the conversation

My latest feature article for Church Times is an interview with Betty Spackman surveying her career and work:

'“In some branches of — particularly Protestant — Christianity, there has been a history of discouraging, or even disallowing, involvement in the arts, particularly the visual arts, and for my generation it was a very difficult struggle to find affirmation as an artist of faith. Thankfully, there is now more freedom and acceptance of the arts in the Church — but, of course, now there are new issues to deal with.”

While not a pioneer in the art world, in Christian circles “I was perhaps one of the early artists of faith exploring some of these things — and was pretty alone at the time.” People such as the German artist Joseph Beuys were “among many who brought together all the things I love: material, performance, social engagement, installation, etc.”.

Such artists “were a constant inspiration, and were challenging both intellectually and artistically”, but were already on her radar, “because these were ways I was already beginning to work”.'

Read my Artlyst interview with Betty Spackman here and a diary piece including her latest work 'A Creature Chronicle' here.

My other feature articles for Church Times are here, here, here, and here.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here. See also Modern religious art: airbrushed from art history?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carolyn Ahrends - Becoming Human.