Soli Deo Gloria Studio
Contemporary Abstract Full Of Faith
Grace Carol Bomer ‘s concern is the human condition surprised by the grace of God. Motifs and metaphors suggest a narrative that allows the viewer a glimpse into the mystery and transcendence of an eternally relevant story. Her layered mark making and pairing of text and image reference the truth that all things hold together in Christ, who is The Word of God and The Image of God. The Incarnation is the focal point of her work. It is a visual reminder of God’s extravagant grace.
Grace has exhibited nationally and internationally. In the past her work has been featured in Yale Divinity School’s Reflections journal, and selected for Appalachian Corridors, juried by Art in America art critic Eleanor Heartney. In 2022 her work was exhibited in Madrid at GALERIE AZUR and most recently at SESSION 5 GALERIE AZUR BERLIN.
FINE ART GALLERY
Neither word not image compete for primacy upon her canvases, nor do they rest in an uneasy tension, Instead, the opposite is true. Word and image find beautifully harmonious and ecstatic expression in her hands.
Grace Carol Bomer professes a vibrant Christian faith in her paintings, but refuses to preach in worn religious imagery.
Thank you for making this SEEN issue extra special.
It’s unusual to find an artist who not only has a deep grasp of theology, suffering and joy but can also communicate the mystery and grace of a loving, present, powerful God and redeemer. Her art is visual storytelling that touches your soul.
Like icons, her canvases point beyond, helping us see the true and good and beautiful One who inhabits all her rendering.
Grace Carol Bomer professes a vibrant Christian faith in her paintings, but refuses to preach with worn religious imagery. .. With nearly two millennia of Western artists portraying nativities, pietas, and the passion of Christ, Bomer has a rich tradition to draw on as well as a great many stereotyped images to avoid.
To her credit, she acknowledges the twentieth century and its legacy of abstract modern art, blending abstraction with objective representation to convey her spiritual theme.
Anyone who likes their Christian images served up in safe Sunday School settings beware…
There’s no sweet cherubs in the paintings of G. Carol Bomer.Bomer’s art is intensely religious, but it is also modern and abstract.
To Bomer, religious art goes wrong when it tries to swaddle faith in sentimentalism. Bomer says that kind of art misses what she calls ‘the hard parts of life.”It doesn’t get at the whole gospel, which is creation-fall-redemption.’ Bomer said in a telephone interview from her Asheville home. ‘There is a fall. We are hurting people. We need a savior.’
When I look at her work, I see a manifestation of traditional faith through this very contemporary art form.
I have spent a good deal of time contemplating your artwork and it has grown richer for me as I have delved into it. Over the course of this last week I have been writing about your artwork and it has opened up for me in ways I hadn’t expected.
In addition to the “visible and invisible” realities that drew me to your work I am now also very intrigued by your engagement with both “word” and “image”.
Grace Carol’s iconic, abstract art—and her articulate witness about what she paints—opened my eyes to the possibility of visual art carrying multiple layers of meaning.