Student Art Forum
An Art Forum will take place on Thursday May 4th at 7.30 pm at the DSPT. Four DSPT students will present their creative practice accompanied by a talk relating to philosophy, theology, and aesthetics followed by a Q&A.
Artist talks by Justyn Michael Zolli (visual art), Nathalia Bell (moving image), Br. John Paul Puschautz (visual art), Joshua Peck (literature). Please see below for the artist biographies.
We hope this Art Forum could continue hosting events as a platform for students, both artists and non-artists, to discuss their interests in the overlap of aesthetics, theology and philosophy.
The charism of the Dominicans is the preaching and teaching of Truth, the Order of Preachers also has a rich tradition of engaging with Beauty. DSPT is proud to carry on this tradition through its Blackfriars Library and Gallery, and through events such as this.
Justyn Michael Zolli's visual art practice encompasses abstract painting, drawing, printmaking, murals, architectural art glass, and photography. He holds a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Tufts University, and is currently studying Aesthetics at the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology, Berkeley. He has completed many liturgical art commissions, and has exhibited his contemporary artwork in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and contemporary art fairs nationwide and internationally, such as: ArtMarket SF Contemporary Art Fair, (San Francisco, CA), Texas Contemporary (Houston TX), and Williamsburg Art neXus Gallery (Brooklyn, NY). Zolli's work endeavors to be an offering to others of an aesthetic experience of light, color, harmony, and peace.
justynzolli.com
Nathalia Bell is a Canadian-German film artist and writer with an MA in Experimental Film from Kingston School of Art. Her film work has featured internationally in conferences, festivals, and venues, including at the British Film Institute and Imperial War Museum. Her poetic essay films create ruminative spaces that juxtapose the sublime and profane, exploring the theme of secular devotions, informed by her academic background in literature, philosophy, religion, and theology.
nathaliabell.com
Br. John Paul Puschautz, born into a family of artists, began to sell his paintings in high school while working at Gallery 37 Downtown Chicago. He studied Painting and Art Education at the University of Illinois before entering the Community of St John in 2011. He is in the process of transferring his vows to the Western Province Dominicans and is currently finishing up his Masters in Divinity. He is interested in the healing of the imagination through meditating on the works of Blessed Fra Angelico. His drawings, paintings, and installations explore humanity’s search for the transcendent in our complex experience.
Joshua Peck is a fiction writer and student of philosophy. He is thrice published for his short stories, in which he follows in the tradition of Flannery O’Conner and Walker Percy. He is currently a philosophy masters student at Dominican School Philosophy & Theology, the showrunner for an audio drama to be released 2024, and working on a novel to be completed the same year.
