Annunciation Studies
By Michelle Arnold Paine
Artist Statement
During our summer of Art and Synodality encounters and readings I re-engaged with the practice of doing small “transcriptions”, or studies, of master paintings of the Annunciation. The phrase transcription comes from Graham Nickson, artist and Dean of the New York Studio School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture. He says: “Great art of the past did not appear out of a vacuum; it had a continuous link with its precursors, distant and recent. It reached for the life line of understanding the past holds out to the present.” Nickson’s words bear great resonance into the Catholic understanding of Church. Studying the art of the past, wrestling with its relevance to my work today is an analogy for the work of synodality. Just as an artist listens for revelation from the art of the past, in the same way we receive and listen to what the Church has handed down to us through the years. We must respond, go out and live it for this moment, in this age. Our Church today is not a carbon copy of the Church as it was in the past. We must listen both to what has come before but also to the needs of where we are now and how the Holy Spirit is moving to address those needs in its wisdom and creativity. The Annunciation is also about listening. As an artist I must listen as Mary did. As a church we must listen as Mary did. The narrative of the Annunciation has been told in countless ways by those before me. And there are countless more ways to recount it. If we can listen as Mary did, we can begin to move forward towards the Beauty and Love that to which God has called us.
About the Artist
Michelle Arnold Paine is a contemporary painter whose faith plays an integral part of her work. She grew up attending a Presbyterian church and began to explore the visual richness of Catholicism while studying in Italy during college, which eventually led her into the fullness of the Roman Catholic Church. She was confirmed at Easter 2001 in the Cathedral of Orvieto, Italy. During the years she spent living and working in Italy for an American study abroad program, she steeped herself in the Renaissance masters, the rhythms of the Catholic liturgy, and the intimacy and beauty of daily Italian life. After her return from Italy she received at Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from University of New Hampshire. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two daughters.