OUR LADY OF SEATTLE ON SHAW ISLAND

 

For years I have admired the artwork of DANIEL MATSUI, and recently a friend in Seattle gave us a beautiful giclee print of this drawing  by this artist, which was commissioned for  her parish church, St. Luke in Shoreline.

On his website Daniel,writes:  I combined iconographic elements from the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady, Undoer of Knots with decorative elements from the art of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest.

Its shape suggests a copper shield. In the border, pairs of animals approach Noah’s Ark. This is a reference to Chief Seattle, who took the baptismal name Noah. The Ark I based on a Tlingit bone carving of a spirit canoe.

The figure of Mary is dressed similar to a statue in the church, but carrying the Christ Child in a sling. She stands on a crescent moon, a snake underfoot, with twelve stars about her head. The Greek nomina sacra inscriptions are abbreviations for Jesus Christ and Mother of God.”

The piece is beautifully framed and will have a pride of place in our chapel.  One has to see it in person to appreciate the colors and details.  Daniel is noted for his fine work which is reminiscent of medieval art.  He says he draws inspiration from Gothic illuminated manuscripts, painting and tapestries.  While his work is collected around the world, I wish it was more widely known on our country.  Heaven knows we need more truly good art in our Churches today.

Daniel earned an undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he studied various art mediums, concentrating mostly on ink drawing and printmaking. He also worked in modern styles and considered pursuing a career in comics or film animation- thank God he changed his mind!.

In 2004, he was received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. This motivated him to revisit his interest in religious art. His mother had been raised  Catholic, but he was never baptized.

“Even though I didn’t have any real religious formation or catechism that endured, there was some exposure to the Mass—not regular but some exposure and I had the idea that the Catholic faith was the one true faith.  That experience of the liturgy also formed a connection in my mind between medieval art and the Catholic faith. Those were strongly associations which maybe wouldn’t have been if I had more of a typical parochial upbringing in the 1980s and 1990s.” 

Once can certainly see an Asian influence in his art. His paternal ancestors came to the United States about a century ago from Japan, though he says “his interest in Japanese art did not come through my family, but through my patrons.”

 Daniel has a very Benedictine approach to selling his art. “I like to sell directly to people and price my art in such a way that I can attract patronage from ordinary people. I like to see my work in homes and I don’t want to play the games where I get gallery representation, set my prices at an unbelievably high level, and expect to sell one or two pieces a year—if I’m lucky.”  Almost all his art is I privately commissioned.

 Speaking about Our Lady of Seattle,Father Brad Hagelin, pastor of St. Luke's says,“It’s a very creative piece. It’s obvious that it comes from a place of devotion. This is the artist’s calling. It was like commissioning an icon from a monk who has a great devotion.”

(Image used with kind permission of artist)