CONTEMPLATIVE MAPS: LIVING LIFE AS PILGRIMAGE

Casey Murano

OVERVIEW (ARTIST STATEMENT IN PROGRESS)

• Since I was inspired by the experience I had as a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago during spring break, I decided to continue engaging with the idea of pilgrimage as my summer research project. During the past three months, I have been paying attention to how I live my life as a pilgrimage in a number of different settings—at home, at the pool swimming laps, while traveling to New York to visit family, while taking daily walks around the track/to church, serving with DeSales Service Works in Camden, NJ. Basically, I’ve discovered that I can frame any kind of movement, whether physical or metaphorical, as a pilgrimage! For the first part of the project, I actively kept a sketchbook to help me notice these daily movements and read books about hospitality, action/contemplation, spiritual practices, meaningful service learning/mission trips, and the connections between art and creativity. During the second part, I participated in the DeSales Service Works program where I had the opportunity to create a mural depicting St. Francis and the Wolf and connect with inspiring people who are working together to build community and support one another. While in Camden, I was especially excited to discover intersections between faith, art, and service, which are three central components I’ve been thinking about as I discern my vocation. For the third part of the project, I created art full-time on University of Richmond’s campus. Here, I created several series of monotypes based on images I collected on my various pilgrimages and also developed creative spiritual practices that helped me to be more attentive to God working in my life. For example, I walked to church (approximately 3 mile round trip) to be in solidarity with the AA participants of Kensington’s Last Stop who also walked to Mass each morning. I was amazed at how many people I met on the walk and how this practice reminded me of walking in Spain. I also created daily pastel drawings as a way of mapping and reflecting on my day, and traced a series of candles as a way of recording my prayer intentions. The following images are a sample of the work I have created this summer and will continue to create while I am studying abroad in Italy during the fall semester (I will be very close to Assisi, so I can continue engaging with this theme of pilgrimage!).

ST. FRANCIS AND THE WOLF. 8X8 FT, ACRYLIC PAINT ON WOOD. CREATED FOR THE KENSINGTON LAST STOP

PILGRIM MAP. 18 X 18 IN, DRYPOINT.

BIG PILGRIM MAP. 24 IN X 40 IN, MONOTYPE AND INK.

ALONG THE WAY I. 18 X 18 IN, MONOTYPE.

ALONG THE WAY II. 18 X 18 IN, MONOTYPE.

ALONG THE WAY III, 18 X 18 IN, MONOTYPE

GROWING STREET IN CAMDEN. 18 X 18 IN, MONOTYPE.

GATHERING TOGETHER. 14 X 26 IN. MONOTYPE AND COLORED PENCIL. COMMISSIONED BY UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND’S CHAPLAINCY

PEACEFUL PLACE. 18 IN X 18 IN, MONOTYPE.

SUMMER JOURNEY. 5 X 5 IN, MONOTYPE AND COLORED PENCIL.

EXPERIMENTS WITH VISCOSITY PRINTING. 5X5 IN, MONOTYPE.

DAILY PRAYER CANDLES. 20 X 30 IN, COLORED PENCIL