Sacred Art: Creation and Symbolism (continued)

To express myself, I use the two means within my reach, namely, the material (which is antique glass) and drawing.

As regards glass, I seek, according to the building of which I am the host, the association of a palette of colors in such a way that the final outcome which is bestowed upon me – thanks to the sunlight – is an atmosphere propitious to meditation and praying.

As regards drawing or graphic design, I find myself in absolute harmony with the spirit of Saint Bernard DE CLAIRVEAUX, who imposed the "non-representational" in stained glass windows. In fact, he believed that the representation of characters, with or without a design, would distract the believer and make him stray away from his prayers; I find this state of mind in the symbolism of Ancient Maronite Art, initially influenced by Saint Simon the Stylite. In reality, the first Phoenician artists found it was, according to Henri Seirig, "more expressive to substitute to the image the attribute which seemed to personify and embody the might of God."

Each and every religious creation must seek as an only and unique aim that of focussing the mind towards God. The surest means to accede to God is praying in the most absolute contemplation. Therefore, the useless hindrances that stand in the way leading to this state must cease to exist in order to reach the essential. Consequently, everything that belongs to the domain of anecdote is not only superfluous, but is mostly "supererogatory". I would, at the limit, say that stained glass windows depicting the story of a Biblical character would make the mind stray from prayer or Mass. The eye is caught by a landscape or a detail, a piece of clothing or a design.

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