While there are many ways to share the Gospel, Paul Bulgin, assistant professor of visual arts at John Brown University, has found a creative approach to represent Scripture with his artistic expression.
On Feb. 10, Bulgin hosted a reception and live art performance of his most recent gallery “Abstract, React, Impact.” His work features spin art and splatter paintings that explore biblical stories, including the Genesis account of creation through color and form.
Located in JBU’s Windgate Visual Arts West building, the gallery is a space that evokes reflection and symbolizes the important message of creation, fall and redemption.
Originally from England, Bulgin came to JBU in fall 2021 to teach graphic design. Prior to his coming, he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. However, Bulgin said he prefers Christian universities. “I grew up in a Christian home in England,” he explained. “To come here into a Christian environment is great.”
When it comes to his artistic expression, Bulgin is very confident in the message he tries to deliver to his audience. “If you look around the gallery, there are 12 paintings that start in Genesis and work through some of the stories from the Old Testament and then the New Testament,” he said. “I picked certain stories that I like and that I felt I just relate to and wanted to express those in color and form.”
The names accompanying the paintings are an accurate depiction of what story each artwork represents. Some of the paintings include “A King is Born,” “The Triumphal Entry,” “The Ascension” and “Tongues of Fire.” People well-versed in Scripture can identify these stories through Bulgin’s creative vision.
The gallery is divided into two sections: the 12 paintings representing Scripture and a side of the room called Splatter Painting. According to Bulgin, the art pieces are made from the excess from making the other 12 paintings, splattered on found pieces of wood. “These pieces are not purchased; they are found and discarded or thrown away,” he explained. “And I’ll take it back and reclaim them, paint them and splatter on them with the idea that things in our culture and our society are on the fringes, and I want to show that just because you’re on the fringe doesn’t mean you’re not beautiful or worthy.”
Bulgin’s reception and live art show was a fun experience for students and visitors who desired to immerse in the colorful, peace-evoking scenery. The reception was also an opportunity for the audience to collaborate with Bulgin in the experience of creating art through spin art, an art form that uses paint, a canvas and a spinning platform to create abstract art.
Bulgin’s gallery, beyond a creative exposure to Scripture, is a chance to “gain a story from something colorful and thinking about a story that color represents,” Bulgin said. The gallery is an encouragement to meditate and think about the Bible stories, and, as people sit and look at the paintings, Bulgin hopes people see Scripture in a way that they’re not used to seeing it.
Photo courtesy of Isabelle Nystrom