Artist gives saints a modern-day makeover

by Jill Ragar Esfeld
jill.esfeld@theleaven.org

TONGANOXIE — What if St. John the Evangelist were alive today?

What would he be like? How would he dress? What music would he listen to? Where would you find him?

After all, St. John was a radical youth, a son of thunder, the only man who stayed at the foot of the cross when all others fled in fear.

What shape would he take as a bold, passionate youth today?

These are the questions artist Gracie Morbitzer asks herself as she goes beyond contemplation and immerses herself in the lives of the saints.

The answers are rendered in the icons she paints, each of which depicts a saint as a young person navigating the complex issues of today’s world.

And she hopes her art moves viewers beyond the icon to an understanding that saints walk among us every day.

Morbitzer’s website, displaying her modern icons, describes them as “the saints painted with character, correct age, ethnicity, modern style to show just how human they were — just like us.”

She has recently published a book called “The Modern Saints” featuring her iconography with short bios of the saints and longer commentaries written by a variety of authors.

Father Mark hurts his finger

If Father Mark Goldasich had not sliced open his finger on the frame of his front door, believes Jennifer Eastes, Morbitzer’s artwork might still be unknown to her.

But forced to sit in a hand surgeon’s waiting room prior to an examination, Father Mark picked up his U.S. Catholic magazine and just happened to turn to an article about Morbitzer.

Intrigued, he showed it to Eastes, the codirector of religious education at Sacred Heart Parish in Tonganoxie.

“I think this is something our kids would like,” he said.

Eastes agreed.

“I was like, ‘Oh the teenagers will be able to relate to these images,’” she said. “Anything that gets people more interested in the saints is going to help them grow closer to Jesus.”

Eastes, though not a teenager, related to the images, too.

“I really like Martha’s picture, and Joan of Arc with her blue hair,” she said. “I like reading [Morbitzer’s] descriptions and how she stays true to the saints’ stories and their personalities.”

Sacred Heart promptly ordered prints to hang in the classrooms — and reached out to Morbitzer for a speaking engagement. (See below.)

 Too creative

Morbitzer was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, where she has her home and art studio today.

As the member of a “really big German immigrant Catholic family,” she developed a passion for the saints when she was a young girl.

That’s also when she fell in love with art.

“But I didn’t do super well in my art classes,” she confessed. “I got in trouble for trying to be maybe too creative — beyond what the assignment was.”

Morbitzer went through Catholic elementary and high school and had her first experience living in a secular setting when she attended Columbus College of Art.

“I was a little bit overwhelmed by the transition,” she said. “It was a different environment than I was used to.”

While decorating her dorm room, Morbitzer wanted some kind of religious art to connect her to her faith.

“But just being in a very artsy building,” she said, “there was no way that some of the traditional religious art would fit into that space. Also, that was never something I connected with.

“And so, I was hoping to create something new for me personally.”

On a college student budget, Morbitzer headed to a local yard sale where she found pieces of wood for free.

“They reminded me of what traditional icons had been painted on,” she said. “And so, I decided that would be the piece I would create for my space.”

She started with Jesus, then Mary — painting each in the image of the young college students surrounding her.

It was an innovative approach that caught the interest of her peers.

Morbitzer posted the images on her social media and was surprised at the response.

“All my Catholic school friends commented pretty quickly, asking for renditions of their own favorite patron saints in that sort of style,” she said. “They saw something really powerful in it as well.”

Saints on the side

That began what Morbitzer called a “side project” — painting “modern” saints and displaying them at art fairs hosted by her college.

She was gratified to find a following of people who related to her art — many who had abandoned religion because of some hurtful or isolating experience in their past.

“I realized they could openly have questions when it came to these images because they weren’t trying to push anything,” she said. “It was just a way into dialogue.

“And I thought that was a very cool experience.”

From her research, Morbitzer knew the saints had dealt with difficulties, corruption in the name of religion and even excommunication.

“I really think they show there can be a path forward holding on to the faith,” she said. “I love the traditions and rituals of the church.

“I think it can be so healing.”

Morbitzer began to paint more and more icons — some by commission and many just from her own interest in a particular saint.

After graduating with a degree in interior architecture and design, she worked one year in her field and then decided to devote herself full time to the modern saints project.

When she decided to publish a book and reached out to different writers to compose a commentary for each saint, she was surprised at the response.

“I still can’t believe how many of them agreed to do this project with me,” she said. “It was fabulous; it really was.”

Today, she has her book, an online store of prints and holy cards, and a studio in the Franklinton Arts District open to the public during the district’s monthly art and culture event.

“When we have our open studios,” she said, “people come in who have never seen my work and tell me it’s the favorite thing they’ve seen that night, or it’s very moving to them and they weren’t expecting that.

“Because they found it so organically and were able to be unexpectedly inspired, that just means everything.”

Captivated by the saints

When Morbitzer paints an icon, she begins by immersing herself in the life of that saint; she looks at photographs if they’re available and draws from many resources to write a full biography.

“Even if I thought I knew their story before,” she said, “there is always something that surprises me — something that strikes me as so modern and progressive even if they lived a thousand years ago.”

As a backdrop to her work, she creates a playlist of music the saint might listen to today.

“That might be based on what country they lived in or what they were interested in,” she said. “I also pick an outfit, or a lunch, or a candle I can burn while I’m working.

“So, I really set myself in this space to concentrate on this person.”

Though she’s no longer on a college student’s budget, Morbitzer still repurposes wood for her projects. That’s a nod to St. Genevieve, her confirmation saint and the third icon she created.

“I decided to create her piece on a wooden souvenir plate I found at a thrift store,” she explained. “And that decision inspired using repurposed wood for all the pieces — just to stick with that theme of transforming something into a new life that becomes revered.

“Sort of like the saints themselves.”

Acrylic is her medium, and one of her favorite aspects of creation is finding innovative ways to include the symbols that have become associated with each saint over the centuries into her modern icons.

“I really love being able to figure out how to translate the symbols into jewelry or the fabric patterns they’re wearing,” said Morbitzer.

“It’s always a challenge,” she added.

A different story

Not everyone is on board with Morbitzer’s contemporary approach. Her social media account has been ambushed by more than one internet troll — and sometimes just by people highly critical of her approach to the saints.

She handles the criticisms by focusing on the positive.

“Those that find good in what I’m doing have been so vocal,” she said. “And that is priceless to me.

“I know the good that it’s doing outweighs the negative attacks.”

Opinions do change. When Morbitzer first started her Modern Saints project, she reached out to her former Catholic schools asking if she could advertise her art at fairs or send prints of particular patron saints.

They weren’t open to the idea.

“Now that my project has become better known and popular in Columbus,” she said, “those Catholic schools have been more open to having those pieces and asking for donations for their fundraisers.

“It’s a much different story.”

In the future, Morbitzer hopes to produce another book of saints and is currently working on a deck of saint prayer cards to be used on home altars or for daily meditations.

“I really just hope to make available patrons that someone can turn to for pretty much every cause, everything that you might live through,” she said. “Knowing we’re not alone, and someone has done it before.”

“I know this is what I’m called to do because I’m inspired by it every day,” she continued. “I never get tired of this project.

“There is always something new to learn.”

Just in time for All Saints’ Day

Modern Saints Presentation

Sacred Heart Church
1100 West St, Tonganoxie

Nov. 1 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
• Wine and cheese event for adults only
• Child care will be provided by the Sacred Heart Youth Group

Nov. 2 from noon to 1:30 p.m.
• Family event with a light lunch
• Books, prints and prayer cards will be available for purchase.

For more information, send an email to: sacredheartoftongie@gmail.com.