Essays

Symbols of Excess: Ozark and the Idolatry of Our Times

In this essay, which appears in Pop Culture and Theology, I examine the symbolism of the title cards in the the Netflix series Ozark as a...

Emulating Divine Creation: Philip Guston's Third Act

Philip Guston painted The Line (1978) late in life. It was eight years after he first exhibited figurative works that broke with his...

The Readymade as Social Exchange: Everyday Tactics of Resistance in Conceptual Art

Ever since Marcel Duchamp introduced the readymade, the mass-produced object has played a key role in modern and contemporary art. As...

Hovering Over the Waters

Grace has the character of an intimate flow that wells up gently, filling our broken places and bringing us closer to God. But,...

Justice and the American Way

In this essay published in Radix Magazine, I discuss Biblical justice and how it applies to the current social and political context in...

Truly

It’s often been said that art reveals truth, though the question of how, or even what we mean by “truth” isn’t obvious. Antonio Palomino...

Wonderment

In the early part of our journey, we lean on the church’s authority. With our feet rooted firmly in belief, we must develop a healthy ego...

Armenia's Cross: A Cosmic Tree of Life

This essay was first published in The St. Austin Review. The khachkar, or cross-stone, is unique to Armenia, the first nation to adopt...

The Comic Saul

Caravaggio’s painting The Conversion on the Way to Damascus is a visual allegory for the figure of the holy fool, who surrenders to God...

Setting Sail for Truth

In this essay, published in Genealogies of Modernity, I explore the themes of truth and humility through Alfred Stieglitz's iconic...

The Place of Unknowing

In this essay I write about Caspar David Friedrich's Monk by the Sea as a visual embodiment of the apophatic tradition. The piece,...

Ghosts in Los Angeles

This essay, which appears in Ekstasis Magazine, examines photographs of the homeless made by the contemporary artist Andres Serrano. I...

The Shape of Personality

In an essay inspired by writing from C.S. Lewis, I explore the representation of personality in our visual culture. This piece, available...

Reimagining Paradise and Compassion

When we speak of compassion we think of human relationships. But the Cosmic Christ includes compassion for all of creation. In this...

Resurrection and the Everlasting Image

On the occasion of Eastertide, I felt compelled to draw together the story of the famous Armenian painter Arshile Gorky and the Christian...

Portraits of the True Self

I have always had a love for the paintings of Rembrandt and find the complexity of his career-long engagement with the genre of...

A Pronounced Feeling for the Inner Life

In this essay, published in Ekstasis Magazine, I reflect on the impact of the pandemic on outer and inner rhythm and the stay-at-home...

Birth Through the Virgin and Child

Writers were invited by Contemplative Light to reflect on the occasion of Christmas. In this essay I take a look at the difference...

Picturing Faith

In my second essay for Contemplative Light, I discuss the difference between faith and belief and how Caravaggio's painting of the...

Ecstasy in Stone: Viewing Bernini through a Contemplative Lens

For my first essay to be featured in Contemplative Light, I explore Bernini's "The Ecstasy of St. Teresa" from a contemplative...