The Artist’s Interview: Seth Coulter of Saint Brigand, Artist and Writer
Interview with Steve Veasey and Kimberly Phinney
The Way Back to Ourselves is proud to present:
T H E A R T I S T ’ S I N T E R V I E W
with Seth Coulter, artist and writer
Kimberly: Hi, Seth. I need to say first that we are huge fans of yours. Your art is gorgeous and deeply meaningful, and we are so excited to interview you! Thank you for taking time out of your schedule for TWBTO community.
So, Steve and I consulted on this, and he says you are quite the theologian, so we must ask you, who are your favorite three theologians and why?
Seth: Firstly, it is great to chat with you both. Haha, Steve is very kind. I am only a theologian in the sense that R.C. Sproul employs widely (meaning anytime we engage and attempt to understand the Bible, we are engaging in theology), but my formal Biblical training includes only Bible college. I am a lay person in every other way. Oh, my favorite theologian, and the person I have learned the most from personally has been Tom Wright, although I also want to mention John Stott and John Walton in that mix, as well. These three have really helped me restructure “how” I engage with the Bible. Sometimes we might be wary when we hear that we need to “learn the context of the Biblical authors,” as though it makes things more mysterious than they need to be.
But if we imagine the distant past as a different country, one that has a different language and different customs, to be a loving neighbor sometimes requires us to learn some of the traits of the place, so that we visit it on its terms instead of trying to bend it to ours.
So, instead, we could consider “context” as that learning process. These three theologians (in my experience) have been brilliant and humble guides and interpreters of that country we long to engage with more fully.
Steve: To align with R.C Sproul’s stance on anyone understanding scripture is very invitational. And the conversations that are prompted through your writing is evident from this viewpoint. This reminds me of a quote from N.T. Wright: “Hope, for the Christian, is not wishful thinking or mere blind optimism. It is a mode of knowing, a mode within which new things are possible, options are not shut down, new creation can happen." I see so much of what you do as taking these concepts that have stood the test of time and sharing them through your unique perspective.
Okay, so another question. You go by “Saint Brigand” on Instagram (and elsewhere). Where did the name come from and how does it represent and impact the work you aspire to do?
Seth: Saint Brigand is sort of a thematic thought experiment for the art and writing of the page. It is more of a springboard for existential questions, and I am not dealing with the Biblical episode in any exegetical way. When we think about the thief (the brigand) on the adjacent cross at Christ’s crucifixion, we aren't told much about him, and yet it seems that even in our little glimpses we are shown something of the human condition, his, and in turn, ours. He is presented with a choice and an inkling–and not blind faith (Christ is before Him). And it creates a series of questions that we might explore. For example, trust and exhaustion could be seen as keen elements of his position, and there before him is a mystery, but one that calls to some part of him that he understands in some fashion, and so he says in hope, “Remember me.”
Kimberly: I love this. What a thoughtful approach. And I agree, we are all drawn to the thief and the story surrounding him. In fact, the cover of my debut poetry collection, which Steve designed, references this very scene. It was a central motif that I explored–unwittingly in fact.
Steve: Undertones of theology are consistently present in your work in some shape or form. What does the presence of the theological ties mean to you as a creative and what sparks are you hoping to ignite in the imagination of your audience?
Seth: I think it is important to keep in mind that throughout our respective days, we are constantly inundated with frameworks, worldviews, and sets of theologies and philosophies that are either consistent, inconsistent, fleshed out, or slap-dashed together. And these can be more explicit or implicit in the words used in conversation, advertisement, or entertainment.
I believe that it’s the place of the Arts to try and present things that stir internal reflection in a way that explores, “Well, what do I believe about all these things, these messages–and what do I think about the world and my place in it?”
My continual desire is to present to my audience Thinkers and Thoughts in an approachable way. It is daunting for someone who doesn't have experience with theology (and philosophy for that matter) to try and breech the ivory tower, so I try to use my own art and writing, quotes, footnotes, and book recommendations to service that end–that these might offer subtle and intriguing onramps that extend into these worlds of thought, onramps that perhaps someone was waiting for all along but didn’t know how to necessarily find.
Steve: That’s a profound way of describing the importance that the arts have in multiple facets of our culture. I also appreciate that you are using your own voice and message to inspire others to find their own as well.
Kimberly: Agreed. I love the idea of “art as an onramp.” Sometimes thoughts and concepts (and truth for that matter) are elusive or complex, and it takes the artist to crack us open to them.
Steve: Years ago–like me–you were involved in pastoral work as a vocation. How has your experience in that ministry setting affected the work that you create as a designer and the people you are trying to reach?
Seth: Oh, interesting question. I think primarily it helps me keep in mind the complexity of experience that exists within us all and that communicating those elements we might call “shared aspects” of life deserve nuance of communication without undue complication. There are some truths that we all share that can only be arrived at by carefully unpacking ideas to get to their core. My wish is that, in a way, my art would meet people where they are, wherever they are, on the road of discipleship and experience, and be of some aid.
Steve: I think that your art does an excellent job at reaching people exactly where they’re at. I appreciate that what you create doesn’t feel exclusive or for a specific type of person. Your work is so relatable that anyone could approach your art and find a point of connection. I’ve discovered firsthand that when you step out and approach themes like mental health with creativity, as vulnerable as it may feel, it resonates with so many. Just as you describe the “shared aspects” of life, some of the most meaningful work that we can share requires the most courage and strength, but it also unites us.
And to this point, as an illustrator myself, I find it so important that our audience can actually SEE what you do as we discuss it. Any way you can share your three favorite illustrations you’ve created lately and tell us why they mean so much to you and what the deeper meaning is behind them?
Seth: I think three posts on my Instagram that have resonated with me and have kept me coming back to their core ideas are: July 19 (The Lily and the Bird), October 10 (The Unseen Laborer), and October 28 (All is Vapor).
THE LILY OF THE BIRD
The concept of The Lily of the Bird in Matthew 6 is striking; I also appreciate Kierkegaard’s exposition of it as it pertains to living a “present life” and allowing God’s sovereign and providential capacity to be our locus over our propensity for worry.
THE UNSEEN LABORER
The second two pieces and their little writings center around the temporality of life. The Unseen Laborer is a kind of contemplative prayer that is rooted in a “long narrative vision” that you see so often in the biblical text. It also serves to rebuff a current notion: that fame is the same thing as success.
ALL IS VAPOR
The All is Vapor piece asks a simple central question of life and our days: “What does it all mean?” It allows that question to raise our vision off the immanent frame that surrounds us. I think these three really bring me back to the idea of temporality, not as leading to despair (as in so much modern culture) but leading us on in hope — and the more biblical vision of renewal, and that small steady actions, even now, matter deeply.
Kimberly: Seth, these thoughts and the way you express them are truly beautiful and profound. I love how you pair the text with your visual art. I remember gasping at the All is Vapor piece. It reminds me very much of memento mori–or the still life–most prominent in the medieval and Renaissance period: “Remember, you must die.” I am nodding my head to all you are saying because I have a poem, “Still Life,” in my collection that plays with these very notions and how Christ turns memento mori inside out for the Christian with his crucifixion and resurrection.
So, of course, we know Christ saves the world. But when I look at your art, I also think about what Dostoyevsky said: “Beauty will save the world.” I so deeply honor our roles as faithful creatives. We are able to use our craft to engage in beauty and faith and draw seekers, believers, and even wanderers into a deeper conversation about life, art, creativity, and wonder.
Seth: Yeah, that is so true. Art can say things that other vehicles can’t.
We might enjoy rationalistic arguments, and they may in fact bolster our faith (I know they have in my life), but when real trouble comes, art is what we turn to. In our grief, in our joy, it isn't the explanations we look for. We don't need a physicist, so to speak; we need a poet.
(And to note, that comparison is to draw a functional distinction, not to disparage science. I am a lover of science).
Kimberly: To follow up on your work on Instagram, you recently shared a powerful post that caught Steve’s attention (and mine as well) about the pull of social media, platforms, and the commodification of personality and soul. Can you share this image and share your thoughts and motivations behind this timely and necessary message–especially for faithful creatives?
Seth: Absolutely. This topic, I think, will become more and more important in the church as we go (I didn't include this in the post, but it also pertains to AI art now). We are faced with a question: What is art and what does it mean to engage Beauty with a capital B? It is easy to be encouraged toward replication in the goal of getting results, or perhaps of allowing numbers and analytics to dictate our style and messaging to “produce” in a way that makes creativity nothing more than another perishable good. And again, to preface, this is in no way to disparage making money off of art or design; that is not what I am critiquing. What I want to draw attention to is a movement we can observe on social media and within western churches: that of wanting to “be like X to replicate X’s results.” Replication like that might be a trait of advertising but not of art. Art is a little more dangerous than all of that, I think.
Steve: When it comes to sharing artwork on social media, there’s a struggle to create based on trends and what will get the most views. From my experience in sharing my own artwork, staying true to yourself and sharing your truths makes those authentic connections that will leave a lasting impression.
Kimberly: To your points, we must always consider our true WHY as faithful creatives. If this “true north” gets off course by just a few degrees, we can find ourselves in a wilderness that is far from God. It is all too easy to lose sight of our true calling in such a loud world–especially when social media and fame or popularity are involved. And to your point, I see artificial intelligence becoming a large problem with major philosophical and spiritual ramifications. It is a counterfeit, and I think our creator God is much more interested in what His children have to create and say as they seek Him, worship Him, and beautify His Kingdom.
Seth: Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. Art has always been the domain of the spirit, the soul, and so we’ll have to ask hard questions about what we are left with when art isn't located or originating from that space, as well as what we are actually talking about when art is created by other means.
Kimberly: That is so true… which leads to another great question. As artists, we are always seeking to live awake to life and fill our wells with inspirational things and experiences so we can go on to make art that is beautiful and true. What are your influences and how do these influences show up in your art? (the arts and music, the great outdoors, books you’ve read, trips you’ve taken, museums you frequent, etc.)
Seth: It is vital to keep taking in different forms of art to stir your mind. I like to read a lot, and so I get a lot of inspiration from the books I have around at the time. And this might sound boring, but my creative method involves a lot of silence and thinking around a set of ideas to see what happens.
I’m deeply interested in ancient and long-carried images and thematic motifs, so I always try to learn more about what iconography has moved people over time, and then I try to take apart, rearrange, and use those elements in hopefully new, resonant ways.
Kimberly: I love this answer and how you take the iconic or ancient symbology of the human experience and work to make it new and impactful for the modern man. I’m so curious to know: What are some of your favorite books lately that have impacted your thinking, writing, and art?
Seth: Right now, I am working through Charles Taylor’s fascinating masterwork A Secular Age. Also, I have been reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and lastly N.T. Wright’s new book on Romans 8. The first two books on the list have been beneficial in terms of thinking around cultural movements and frameworks we perhaps take for granted. And Wright’s book (Into the Heart of Romans) I’ve been combining with a Leviticus study, and that has been a great exploration of Paul’s writing on law and Spirit. So, as far as my creative process, more or less, these books may not provide a ton of explicit visuals, but then it's a matter of creating visual metaphors to pair with some of the concepts and can be something that then leads audiences into the writings paired with them, hopefully sparking their own investigations.
Kimberly: That’s truly brilliant, and I was hoping for an answer like this so we could see how your artist-mind works. Brave New World is a favorite of mine–so evocative, relevant, and tragic. I, too, love finding high contrasts between ideas and times and mediums–because so often for me, that is where the light gets in. It’s where I find truth and the nuances of it.
It’s actually really interesting to see how many creative types express themselves in various mediums. Most obviously, you’re an illustrator; however, you’re also a writer and photographer. Which do you most identify with and how do you experience these other mediums? Do some come more naturally than others? I can really identify with you and Steve since I also make art in several mediums: writing, photography, painting/drawing, and music (guitar and writing).
Seth: I have always found this to be such an interesting thing to think about. I hope to say this next part in a way that doesn't strike as being too clichéd. But I just like being curious. I think the wonderful thing about the arts is the exploratory nature.
If an artist can, in some way, engage or interface with Beauty, then they have really done something. Now “beauty” in this sense is more than aesthetics; it is what all these disciplines of aesthetics are trying to get to: the truth. Beauty is the love language of truth. And so, in a way, we are all creating in the attempt to grasp something real, something that lasts. We may have affirmed that all truth comes from God, so it would be likewise appropriate to say the same thing about beauty.
To answer your question a little more directly, I would say that art and illustration have come the easiest. I have always enjoyed drawing with different mediums, and taking a lot of art courses was part of my high school years (although I shelved it for several years after school). Photography was also something I grew up doing, although it has never come that naturally, and I am always trying to learn more about it. Currently, it is my great excuse to get out into nature and create something. Lastly, writing has been the thing that has been the biggest struggle and greatest reward. It takes me a lot longer than I’d like to be able to finish writing something, but (and maybe it is the struggle of it all) when I get it done, it is a wonderful feeling.
Steve: This resonates a lot with me. As someone who is both an illustrator and author, a dichotomy seems to exist where you need to be “either/or.” But being able to embrace both truly is a gift that helps us to not remain limited to a specific craft. It shows that there is unlimited potential to what we can achieve when we lean into who we truly are and the gifts that we have been blessed with. And it’s clear your efforts have paid off.
So, big life stuff question here… Are you ready?
If you only had one paragraph to write to give the world about what you know to be true, noble, beautiful, etc., what would you say?
Seth: I think I would want to start with that weighty (and challenging) statement from St. Paul: “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” It seems to me that if Christ really was who he said he was, and is who he says he is, then all of our human experience, emotion, our constructs of meaning, truth, and beauty–all of these things funnel down onto this singularity. All of it would be couched in that place and spread from it. And it would force us to ask the question, “Why? Why is God on the cross?” And then following from that: “What meaning do my activities have in relation to such a reality?”
Kimberly: Wow! What a profound and powerful perspective. You make me think of Strahan Coleman’s book Beholding. It really pushed me to fully contemplate Christ and what he did and how my entire life can be a prayer in light of this radical, encompassing truth.
Seth: That is so true. It reminds me of that famous question Pilate asked to Jesus: “What is truth?” Of course, the answer was standing right before him. Now it is time for me to enjoy a book recommendation. I don’t know Coleman, but that book will be added to cart!
Kimberly: “What is truth?” For the modern man, that question can only be answered by the Gospel and a life well-lived in light of it. May we search it out until the end of our days. And, yes, Beholding is a must-read. He's the founder of the Commoner’s Communion on Instagram. Profound thinker, writer, and seeker.
Steve: Before you go, we’d love to know what you are currently working on. As you look into the new year ahead, what aspirations await you? And most importantly, where can we find you so our readers and community can connect further with you and your work?
Thank you for sitting down with us!
Seth: Firstly, I want to thank you both for having me and for such engaging interview questions. I have really enjoyed this. Oh, I think this will be a big year. Many more illustrative art projects on deck for 2024, but I will also be writing more than ever before. I am currently working on converting some of the little writing pieces that can be found on the @saintbrigand Instagram page to a more reader-friendly article collection that will find its home on www.SaintBrigand.com.
Lastly, I was bouncing around whether I wanted to reveal a little bit of news I have been teasing on my page, and I thought, why not! This year I am excited to announce I am in the midst of writing my first book. So, if you are interested in updates for that coming along, you can find those on my Instagram page.
Kimberly: That is such exciting news! It was our honor to have you, and I cannot wait to learn more about your book, support you, and read it for myself! Definitely keep us here at TWBTO posted! Thank you again, Seth.
Steve: I’ve been a big supporter of your work and friend for over a year now and engaging in this conversation has given me an even deeper appreciation for the inspiration behind what you create and the impact that you are making for anyone who engages with your artwork.
Seth: I very much appreciate that. Thank you both very much for having me!
KIMBERLY: So good. Steve, thank you so much for this opportunity to talk with you. You are such a creative light, and you are someone who has taken darkness and turned it into something beautiful and meaningful for so many to enjoy.
It’s been an honor to edit the second edition of your book, Thin Spaces, which everyone should grab when it’s available. And it’s been such a blessing to The Way Back to Ourselves community to call you friend and contributor.
Thank you!
www.SaintBrigand.com
Seth Coulter
Seth Coulter is the writer and artist behind “Saint Brigand,” an Instagram page (@saintbrigand) and website devoted to exploring the realms of theology and philosophy while pursuing what C.S. Lewis described as “mere Christianity.” It is Seth’s hope to open conversational spaces with his art and writing where folks in the church were never encouraged to explore before. He hopes seekers and believers might be able ask questions and explore faith through the vehicle of artistic contemplation.
Seth currently lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife. Together, they are both passionate about building discipleship and leadership programs that deepen what could be called a confident faith. He is currently at work on his debut book.