Ecology Gathering 2019 – 1

Presenter
Rosemary Crumlin RSM OAM

THEME
The significance of the environment in religious art and architecture
The eyes with which the artist sees
The eyes with which you see.

Rosemary Crumlin is an art curator, historian and consultant in contemporary art and spirituality and in its intersections with Liturgical Art in Paintings and Churches. Her life (art, writings, books, religious commitment) revolves around the intersections between her own questions and those mirrored in the changing faces of contemporary art. She has been a consistent advocate for artists, including indigenous artists and their art.

Some of her books and exhibitions include: Images of Religion in Australian Art (1988), Aboriginal Art and Spirituality (1991), Beyond Belief: Modern Art and the Religious Imagination (1998), and most recently, The Blake Book: Art, Religion and Spirituality in Australia (2011). She is currently the art consultant for Our Lady of Good Counsel Church at Deepdene in Victoria and feels passionately about this sacred place.

Approach
Rosemary’s way of entry is always through the ‘half-open door’ – the work of art itself, and, the experiences which participants bring, and their diverse ways of their seeing. She writes,

“Images and seeing are at the heart of this shared experience. I hope to respect this. I shall bring some originals as well as a few images. I hope we meet some new works, some great artists and each other, and perhaps find new ways of understanding what brings us together about care for the whole of life”.