Artist Statement
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Artist Statement ---
Artist Statement (Spring 2024)
When I started making art in college, it wasn’t religious. I focused more on stories I liked and sometimes mental health, or whatever theme fit a project’s prompt. However, spiritual themes were often present and made the inevitable transition to religious art easy.
As I started making religious art and art inspired by the divine, it was because I wanted to put visuals to the stories and mythologies of my religion: Episcopal Christianity. It was a way to learn about the religion that I realized I wanted to stay in and a way to process other forms of spirituality I have experienced.
As an aspiring icon writer and general storyteller/creator, I have drawn inspiration from what I see as spiritual around me, and artists such as Kelly Latimore and Josephine Wall. Of course, I also draw inspiration from religious sculptures and the writings of and about saints, and I even go through struggles of writing poetry, collects, and prayers to further enhance my work.
Yet As I’ve continued I’ve realized a few things. One is that, as my peers have expressed, it is very hard to critique religious art, I have been told the artwork I make can be confusing. The reality is that there is an information gap between what I know and what I want to communicate to the audience. Despite this, I have also realized through my peers' comments that my emotions are what comes through in my work–even if the history or the intellectual inspirations do not. The more personal my artwork gets, the more universal it becomes.
This has led me to reconsider my range of themes. I started with disability, queerness, color, figures (such as Jonathan and David, Lazarus, and St. Julian of Norwich), and emotions of sorrow; but now, I am also exploring themes of happiness. I want to focus on the reimagination of God and all parts of the divine as forces for joy rather than trauma and shame, as they have so often been used and depicted.
I am excited to move forward with my artistic practice and explore old themes and newer ones, alongside experimenting with different mediums. In the past year, I’ve added painting, markers, ballpoint pens, and glitter to my pieces. The divine is present on a great scale yes, and there is a long tradition of icon painters behind me but my religious art has never looked traditional. As I move away further into my own interpretations of iconography and find my audience, my vision for my art remains. I want to recenter the divine and spiritual that I know exists in daily life and the mundane and showcase my own journey with religion.
Bio
Born in Worcester Massachusetts, but raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, Xi Stoddart (they/them) considers themselves to be from the south. Currently, they live between their home in Charlottesville where they spend time with their family, and South Hadley Massachusetts, where they attend Mount Holyoke College. They will graduate with an AB in May 2024, with a major in Art Studio and a minor in Religion.
As a P.K. (priest’s kid) and cradle Episcopalian, they are influenced heavily by religion in their daily life and work and are active in the church. However, they do not limit themselves to Christianity and have in the past few years have become an an active participant in interfaith life on their college campus including but not limited to: living in the interfaith living-learning community, becoming an active member of SHRI (Students of Hinduism Reaching Inwards), and attending Jumma lunches. Outside of religion, Xi also enjoys music and dance and has dabbled in different instruments and forms. Most recently they have focused on handbells, both as a player and conductor of their college group.
Throughout college Xi has participated in various group exhibits with their classmates, and has had work displayed in the college art building, community center gallery, and dorms. As they move onto the next steps in life after graduation, Xi will be attending Union Theological Seminary for a Master of Arts in Religion, starting fall 2024.
The photo above shows Xi in front of their Bulletin Works series in spring 2023.