It was November 2024, when the fine art exhibition Return of the Light was being organized for a newly renovated space at Memorial Episcopal Church. Curator John Seeley realized that the show was short on sculptures. With necessity being the mother of invention, Seeley went to work on a large piece of walnut wood, with an idea and a chain saw. (More of John Seeley’s art can be found on the BHCA Instagram and Facebook pages.)
The idea became his sculpture, Brother Fire. Emerging from the timber is a figure, one that is a visual representation of a phrase from a prayer by St. Francis of Assisi, The Canticle of the Creatures: “Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire, by whom you light up the night.”
This prayer inspired another Seeley sculpture recently exhibited in the Memorial show A Diverse Community. Created from zelkova wood (from his yard) and gaffer tape, it’s titled Sister Moon and Stars. The piece features a sweeping silver elongated figure, reaching high and captured mid-dance. Stars in bright colors surround her. Seeley says, “Sculpture is about movement, gestures and recording those gestures. The art is static but aspires to motion, and that tension is palpable.”
Seeley works with both sculpture and painting. He began his studies in fine arts at what is now L’École européenne supérieure d’art de Bretagne, France, where in the late 1980s he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Afterwards, he attended MICA’s Reinhart School for a second master’s degree in sculpture. Then, in the early 1990s, Seeley became involved in Memorial Episcopal Church, creating sets for the Memorial Players. He did that for over two decades. In the early aughts, Seeley spent time in Bethlehem, Palestine, where he studied icon painting. There he learned about the procedural aspects of icon art, such as using egg tempera and water gilding to lay gold leaf. Two panel icons, St. Michael and St. Sergius and Bacchus, resulted from this study. The portraits incorporate gold leaf and stylized lines, in the tradition of pre-Renaissance Byzantine icon painting. Seeley explains, “I use gold in my art as a practical, physical representation of “Light.” This is in keeping with historic traditional artistic practice and as an element of Christian iconography. This is different from using gold for purely decorative purposes or as an expression of opulence or power.”
In addition to being a sculptor, painter, and curator, Seeley serves as the church’s Verger, a lay minister role that ranges from escorting processions to ensuring bulletins are printed. His work reflects the congregation’s commitment to community building. Earlier this year, he led Environmental Stewardship: Seen Through Your Lens, a collaborative project with City Weeds and Brown Girl Wellness in which participants photographed both sides of Eutaw Place and displayed their framed images. The project united art and community—central to Seeley’s mission. “Visual art opens space for conversation, communication, and engagement. It’s a starting point,” he says.
Originally from Northern Virginia, Seeley talks about the various neighborhoods in which he has lived in Baltimore since attending MICA. Yet throughout, “I was always trying to figure out how to get back to Bolton Hill.” Now, Seeley lives on Bolton Place with his partner Paul Seaton, a retired faculty member from JHU. They were married at Memorial Episcopal in 2013. Interestingly, Seeley comes from a family of artists. His mother was a spinner, weaver, dollmaker and puppeteer. All three of his siblings are creatives: painters and playwrights.
Two examples of Seeley’s work are on permanent view at Memorial Episcopal. In the Historical Chapel to the right, a 2007 painting Icon of the Holy Family is a wonderful example of icon painting. And in the Peace and Justice Chapel on the left is a 1999 sculpture in memory of Matthew Shepard and dedicated to him and all victims of hate crimes. The sculpture is an abstracted figure of Shepard, with a plaque below. There is gold leaf incorporated, but you cannot see it. You will have to ask Seeley where the goldleaf is, and why. art@memorialepiscopal.org Keep up with the exhibitions at the church by visiting https://www.memorialboltonhill.org/thearts.
–Francine Marchese is an artist and teacher.
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