Practicing What They Preach

Or so goes a traditional Sufi story of creation.

But Sufis aren't the only people who understand a deep connection between art and spirituality -- a connection you don't have to look far to see.

For example, "God: Stories" and "How to Know God" are both titles of books on display at Student Stores.

"Five Faiths" is an exhibit at Ackland Art Museum featuring artists of each of the five major religions of the world.

The frontman of local band My Dear Ella sings, "God is where you are right now, close your eyes, and let him take you home."

But what you see when you look around doesn't always reflect the artists' thoughts about combining their crafts with the unearthly.

For some, their inner struggles or attempts to discover God have shaped them in ways that are thematically expressed in their work.

For others, creating art such as music is, in itself, a spiritual experience that is a vessel for truth.

For Cem Williford, a local Sufi musician and storyteller originally from Turkey, it's a combination of the two.

"That's why people enjoy music," said Williford, referring to the Sufi creation story. "Because it touches the soul."

Sufis, or Islamic mystics, use traditional and new music, storytelling and dancing to communicate their message.

"Music and dance are a very important part of the whole worship practice," Williford said after gracefully switching to his native Turkish tongue to answer the telephone. "It becomes more accessible when it is actually sung."

While the arts of music, storytelling and dance are crucial to Sufis, other local artists find their own individual spiritualities influencing their art in other ways.

Dan Alger's music is a way to share his growth, struggles, joy and discovery in knowing God personally.

Alger, a senior communication studies major, is an acoustic musician who spent three years working for the local Christian indie-folk label Awakening Records.

"Part of the calling of a musician is to make aesthetically pleasing music about what's important to you," Alger said.

For Alger, that's his faith.

But he said it's a challenge to overcome the tendency of people to pigeonhole music written by Christians as something a non-Christian can't identify with.

"People have fallen into this trap -- when they think Christian (music), they think 'not good,'" he said.

"Music itself cannot be Christian. I can create music that people who are not Christians can still enjoy."

Sherri Woods, 37, is a local visual artist who said her theological background, rather than her daily spiritual life, has a prominent impact on her work.

Woods works with cloth and other fabrics to make quilt-like wall paintings and other feminist folk crafts.

Woods has a masters' degree in theology, but she wasn't a typical graduate student. She dropped out of school one thesis short of her master's degree, until years later when a friend told her she should turn in her artwork as a thesis.

She turned in a series of large quilted wall paintings that depicted stories from the Old and New Testaments.

But her work has come a long way since she finally graduated.

"That work was specially related to theological ideas I was inspired by," she said. "(My faith) is not very overt in my work. Because it's part of me, it's part of my work."

Woods said a lot of her more recent art involves the traditional idea of using recycled household decoration scraps to make art that resembles scrap-quilts.

"There is this process of transformation that's a basic theme in all religions," she said. "It's part of the Christian tradition of 'the old will be made new and the last will be made first.'"

While spirituality is closely linked to varying notions of God or the supernatural, this is not the case for all artists.

Jyoti Duwadi, originally from Nepal, recently held an exhibition at the Hanes Art Center. He works with sculpture, drawings, paintings and digital art.

Despite being a native-born Hindu, he said his art is more influenced by Nepalese culture than by any specific religion.

"I try to stay away from the words religion and God," Duwadi said. "Once you bring those words in, it's really restrictive."

Instead, Duwadi said his art tends to evoke emotions like love and anger -- both part of the "human spirit."

"The human spirit itself is just amazing," Duwadi said.

Although Duwadi doesn't relate the human spirit to the supernatural, other artists see a direct connection between the two.

Eric Wallen, 28, believes that the music he performs with his band, My Dear Ella, creates a spiritually moving experience that is nothing less than supernatural.

"If I can understand what moves me, that will be going toward some kind of truth," Wallen said. "In music there are moments of purity that are so beautiful -- there's something to art that really points toward God."

When Wallen says "God," he is referring to "that which is greater than me."

And that which is greater than Wallen finds its way into his songs in the form of very personal and honest lyrics. He said the theme of the band's first album is a general longing -- often for peace or God.

Wallen, who grew up "loosely Catholic" and is now loosely involved with the Self-Knowledge Symposium, said he has seen his music progress in unison with his times of struggles and joy.

"I'm trying to understand who I am," he said. "Music seems to be a pure form of knowing.

"Music might not turn out to be something that leads me to a higher truth, but right now it is."

And it is right now for many artists like Wallen. They, like artists throughout the course of history, share a longing to know that which is greater than themselves.

But whether the most recent wave of spiritually influenced art is a trend that will pass or a progression that's here to stay, one thing is certain -- exactly how spirituality affects different artists is about as diverse as their creations.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.