Being a female artist and a theologian had not been an existential question until I started interrogating my position and status in the contemporary Catholic Church, itself set in the modern world. Very soon after I started my literature survey, I realised that both the Church and the "secular world" perceive themselves and each other differently, as two divergent worlds existing alongside. I cannot say I had not been aware of the clashes between civil societies and their perception of religions and vice versa; however, I thought that this misunderstanding originated in the over-exaggeration of historical problems and ignorance of the viewpoint of others. Although this has some truth, other problematic points seem not to have been discussed enough. One of these points is that both "worlds" have their own particular language; although they share the same words, their meaning is heterogenous. Therefore, I aimed to find a common language and range of symbols that would create a starting point for a mutual visual "language", one that, in its ambiguity and uncertainty, resists definite interpretations and explanations.

In my research, I propose a new approach using art to gain theological knowledge, which may help congregations grow in their understanding of Christian theology and create bridges between theoretical and practical aspects of that theology and its application in daily life. I call this approach "art as a living theology", for which I propose a method of "theological visualisation".

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Stage 1: Experimental work

The experimental work consisted of three short-term art projects Light from Light, You Cannot Step into the Same River Twice, and To the End of the Age. The primary tasks were to choose the appropriate methodology, to scrutinise the research questions propounded and to identify the artistic application and art techniques utilised for the research. The projects examined the possibility of using digital technologies and installation art in a traditional church environment, which steered the focus towards purpose-specific and site-specific art practice. The experimental stage also opened questions about the identity and the position of artists in the Church.

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Stage 2: Pilot project

The pilot project Ora Pro Nobis was designed to examine the preliminary outcomes of the first stage. The whole second stage covered five art projects three of which, Omitted, The Easter Story and Ora Pro Nobis were video collages. The project The Tree of Life was a photo collage, thus a similar technique was applied. The last project Crack was a workshop on painting with light and can be described as a performative real-time collage.

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Stage 3: Final project

The final research project The Women of the Book was accompanied by projects Conception, The Stations of the Loss and Gloves Migration Adoption. The two latter artworks were originally independent of the main research design. However, they provided cross-references to art projects already undertaken for clarifying the research findings. The long-term final art project The women of the Book was released in two parts, of which the first was visual storytelling in the form of a video collage, and the second was designed as a live performance combined with a video collage projection.