Audiobooks by Makoto Fujimura

Art Is: A Journey into the Light Audiobook

"From a widely celebrated artist, this dazzling book takes listeners on a profound journey into the heart of creativity When Makoto Fujimura painted as a child, he felt a mysterious electrical charge pass through him. Over decades of art making, writing, and reflecting in his studio, he has come to understand this charge as his Creator—a source he connects with most profoundly when making art. To be human is to be creative, Fujimura believes, and art making is a discipline of awareness, prayer, and praise by which we journey back to our original light. In this book, Fujimura takes listeners along on his meandering journey as an artist. We witness him making his “process-driven slow art”—using pulverized minerals, gold, or pigments made from oyster shell—as he considers the plants and wildlife on the land where he lives. He draws on Japanese aesthetics, modernist art, Christian theology, sado (art of tea), literature, ecology, and personal narrative, with inspiration ranging from William Blake’s poetry to the art of Mark Rothko and Josef Albers, and from the wisdom of Scripture and Japanese tea master Sen no Rikyū to the traditional Japanese painting technique called Nihonga. Bringing together the author’s written reflections and his paintings, drawings, and photographs, Art Is invites us to see the world in prismatic and diverse lights, helping us navigate the fractured, divisive times we live in."

Makoto Fujimura (Author), David Shih (Narrator)

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$Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture 15th Anniversary Edition Audiobook$

Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture 15th Anniversary Edition

"This timeless collection of reflective essays invites you to explore themes of grief, loss, tragedy, and disruption through the eyes of an artist's soul. Originally conceived in the shadow of the fallen twin towers of the World Trade Center, near where Fujimura's New York art studio stood, this anniversary edition includes new essays unpacking the author's further insights into his concepts of culture care and a theology of making. Refractions carries the weight of history and the urgency of the moment, illuminating beauty, healing, and hope. A gift for any artist or supporter of the arts, Refractions connects faith, art, and life, offering insight into ● healing with the wisdom and perspective of a leading contemporary artist and follower of Jesus, ● making beauty from ashes, and ● the gospel as a message as breathtaking and intricate as the lives it touches. In a world marred by violence and despair, Fujimura guides you toward a deep understanding of life's intricate tapestry, where beauty emerges from unexpected places, and healing finds its roots in the goodness of God and human resilience."

Makoto Fujimura (Author), David Shih (Narrator)

Audiobook

Art and Faith: A Theology of Making

"From a world-renowned painter, an exploration of creativity's quintessential—and often overlooked—role in the spiritual life Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura's broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of 'making.' What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio, in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise. Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, and from Mark Rothko to Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God's being and God's grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman's words, 'an accidental theologian,' one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art."

Makoto Fujimura (Author), David Shih (Narrator)

Audiobook

Aroma of Beauty: in the wake of the 2011 tsunami in Japan

"What would you do if a natural disaster decimated a huge part of your country? After Japan’s catastrophic Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Roger Lowther’s family and community found themselves reeling from a series of devastating blows: magnitude 9.0 earthquake, monstrous 120 foot tsunami, exploding nuclear power plants, tens of thousands dead, hundreds of thousands homeless. How can you demonstrate God’s presence and goodness to people living in devastation around you? How do you find hope in the middle of so much despair? In the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in history, music had a healing power never dreamed possible. An electrifying sense of hope, almost tangible, wafted through the air. In those moments, beauty won over fear and despair. These stories of the aroma of God’s beauty and presence in the aftermath and devastation will encourage you, inspire you, and change you."

Makoto Fujimura, Roger W. Lowther (Author), Makoto Fujimura, Roger W. Lowther (Narrator)

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Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life

"'Culture is not a territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care. Culture is a garden to be cultivated.' Many bemoan the decay of culture. But we all have a responsibility to care for culture, to nurture it in ways that help people thrive. In Culture Care artist Makoto Fujimura issues a call to cultural stewardship, in which we become generative and feed our culture's soul with beauty, creativity, and generosity. We serve others as cultural custodians of the future. This is a book for artists, but artists come in many forms. Anyone with a calling to create?from visual artists, musicians, writers, and actors to entrepreneurs, pastors, and business professionals?will resonate with its message. This book is for anyone with a desire or an artistic gift to reach across boundaries with understanding, reconciliation, and healing. It is a book for anyone with a passion for the arts, for supporters of the arts, and for 'creative catalysts' who understand how much the culture we all share affects human thriving today and shapes the generations to come. Culture Care includes a study guide for individual reflection or group discussion."

Makoto Fujimura (Author), Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)

Audiobook

Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering

"In This World of Pain and Suffering, God Often Seems Silent. But Light is yet Present in Darkness, and Silence Speaks with Hidden Beauty and Truth. Shusaku Endo's novel Silence, first published in 1966, endures as one of the greatest works of twentieth-century Japanese literature. Its narrative of the persecution of Christians in seventeenth-century Japan raises uncomfortable questions about God and the ambiguity of faith in the midst of suffering and hostility. Endo's Silence took visual artist Makoto Fujimura on a pilgrimage of grappling with the nature of art, the significance of pain, and his own cultural heritage. His artistic faith journey overlaps with Endo's as he uncovers deep layers of meaning in Japanese history and literature, expressed in art both past and present. He finds connections to how faith is lived amid trauma and glimpses of how the gospel is conveyed in Christ-hidden cultures."

Makoto Fujimura (Author), Ova Saopeng (Narrator)

Audiobook