F. Lawrence Klimecki

A Catholic Artist

Like many Catholics of his generation, Lawrence Klimecki went through a period when faith did not play a significant part in his life.

“I wouldn’t say that I consciously left the Church, it just wasn’t something I gave much thought to.”

However that changed when in his mid-thirties Klimecki had something of a revelation . While listening to a British production of “A Pilgrim’s Progress,” he was struck by a mental image of Christ on the cross.

“What affected me most was the expression on his face, one of infinite love and infinite sadness. It truly brought home to me the nature of Christ’s sacrifice.”That moment led Klimecki to rediscover his faith and to reflect upon how he was using his gifts and talents. Born in 1960 he grew up in a period when the Church was attempting to assimilate the documents of Vatican II.  Klimecki feels, as many of his generation do, that he was poorly catechized and allowed to drift away from the Church.

“Church teachings and dogma were presented in a very soft way, almost as suggestions with no moral imperative to follow them.”As he struggled to relearn his faith he was also searching for a way to use his gifts and talents in the service of the Church. The more he learned of why Catholics believe what they believe, the more he saw the dearth of contemporary art which complimented these beliefs.

“There are very few working artists today that would consider themselves Catholic artists, and even fewer who draw from the rich 2000 year tradition of Christian art. In the Middle Ages art was used to teach the faith to the illiterate, today we have a similar problem, not that people cannot read but that they choose not to. Art can, and in my opinion should, be used in much the same as way it has throughout the history of the Church, to teach the faith.”

Drawing on the rich forms and graphic style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Klimecki incorporates much of traditional Christian imagery into his work. His inspiration is the past, built on and expanded to reflect eternal truths in a world that all too frequently sees everything in shades of gray. Another source of inspiration is classical mythology.

“There is a great deal of Christian truth in these myths. Very often the public is more familiar with these stories than they are of the teachings of the faith. But if God transcends time and space and the birth of Jesus was the single most significant event in human history, then that birth would have had ripples both forward and backward in our perception of time. The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to an awakening of a dim expectation in the hearts of the pagans (CCC 522). In this light how can we not see the Truth presented in some of these ancient accounts?”

Klimecki’s work is full of symbolism, swirling lines and brilliant color. It takes inspiration from a variety of sources and blends them into a beautiful whole that is at once contemporary, traditional and faithful. A welcome addition to a field in which there are precious few practitioners.