Interview with Artist Joe Willett

Marcia de Abreu
March 1988

A portrait of True Father by Joe Willett -- the first in a series.

Joe Willett, a visual artist working in New York City, has been a member of our church for 14 years. In these excerpts from an interview conducted by Marcia de Abreu, Joe describes how he joined the church, how he later reentered the art field he had given up, and how he is currently striving to help fulfill Father's vision for the arts.

Question: Did you begin doing artwork as a child?

From a very young age I felt that art was going to be my way of life. I started painting when I was 5 years old, and the recognition I received in elementary school encouraged me to continue. I continued to do artwork all through high school. After graduating I worked as a professional commercial artist with a TV station at the University of Kentucky.

Joe studies a style of realism similar to that of the American painter John Singer Sargent.

Question: Where did you come in contact with the church, and how did you join?

While I was working at the TV station, a friend invited me to come up to Chicago. I thought I could find fame and fortune in the big city. But after working there for several years, I saw that many of my friends, even though they were becoming successful on a professional level, were internally experiencing deep moral and social conflicts. Many of them were on drugs. I myself was desperately trying to live in the real world and at the same time maintain a moral perspective. I felt that I should never use my artwork for any low purpose that I had to keep it very pure because God had given me this talent and He wanted me to use it to serve the world. But I reached a point where my mind was in such turmoil that I threatened God, saying, "Look, God, I've done the best that I could, but I don't know what to do anymore. Unless You do something and take care of my situation, I'm going to end up living just like the rest of them, trying to find happiness that way."

A few weeks later, I had a very unusual experience. I had arranged to meet my brother, whom I hadn't seen for a year, and spend the weekend with him. That afternoon before meeting him, I decided to go to the museum and look at some artwork. On my way to the museum, I passed a very strange-looking couple. I thought, "This is some kind of con team," because they didn't fit into the big-city scene at all. The woman looked like someone from a small Midwestern town -- very conservatively dressed, no make-up, no affectations, and the guy she was with had salt-and-pepper hair that stuck out in pieces, as if he had cut it himself with the kitchen scissors. I walked by them, stopping at the corner for the light, and felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the girl. I thought, "Oh no, what are they going to pull on me here?"

But she just asked me, "Would you like to hear a lecture about the nature of mankind and the purpose of man's life?" I said, "Yes, I would."

I found myself promising her that I would attend a lecture! I explained to her that I had to first go to the museum. She looked at me and, perhaps sensing that I was sincere, said, "All right, see you there." As I promised, I came to the center and listened to the first lecture of the Principle, which was very interesting. But I told her that I had to leave to meet my brother. Then my spiritual mother-to-be and her friend invited me several times to stay for the weekend workshop. I wondered why they kept asking me to come. I liked them, but I really had to meet my brother. Actually, half of me felt like going with them. They walked with me to the corner where I was supposed to meet my brother, and I looked all over the place but I couldn't see him anywhere. Finally I said to them, "Okay, I guess I'll go with you." The very second I said that, I turned around and found myself standing nose to nose with my brother! It seemed that he was also looking everywhere and couldn't see me. I told him that I had changed my plans and was going to spend the weekend with these people and that I would see him the next weekend.

After I heard the first few lectures and I understood what was being said, I was in tears, crying and crying. I realized that this truth was the most important thing in my life, before anything else, and I decided to join the church immediately. This was in 1974. Looking back, I feel now that if I hadn't gone through those four or five years of internal suffering before meeting the church, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate the answers the Principle offered to my questions about life and suffering. Now I see that God was always there, preparing me.

After I had been at the Chicago center with Mr. and Mrs. Ron Pepper for about a year, I was selected to go to the first 120-day training session in Barrytown. I thought I would go out afterwards as a missionary; however, because of my background of having taught karate, I went to work on the security staff at East Garden.

I remained there eight and a half years. I had decided to give up my career as an artist totally when I joined the church. So I didn't do any art for about nine or ten years.

An unfinished life size portrait of Ambassador Phillip Sanchez by Joe Willett.

Question: You had such an incredible opportunity to be close to True Parents for so long. Did you have any significant experiences with them?

I have had many incredible experiences with Father and Mother. Whenever my heart was prepared to receive an experience, God would send me one. I remember one time after I had been in East Garden for about five years, I was reflecting on the type of mission I was doing. A mission such as fundraising is extremely difficult, but at least you can see some results from your effort. Security is the kind of job where you don't see results at the end of the day. When nothing ever seems to happen, you don't really know if you're doing your job well or not. This can be a great indemnity after many years, especially if you are the active type who wants to physically and substantially build the Kingdom.

One day I was standing outside, and I began to doubt whether I was actually contributing to the providence at all. Then I realized what Father had to put up with. He had to put up with people like me who could do so little for him, while he should be surrounded by the most capable people in the world. I began to feel very sorry for Father.

Just at that moment Father stepped alone out of the kitchen door. Usually, several guests would come piling out too, and they would go off and do some activity together. Father was holding a badminton racket, and he looked at me and said, "You, I play with you." So I ran over and grabbed another racket and thought, "Heavenly Father, maybe badminton isn't something great, but if this is the only thing I can offer Father, I'm going to do it with 100 percent of my heart." Father stood and hit the birdie almost without moving, his face expressionless like stone. And I ran around like crazy, back and forth, trying to hit it back to Father right in the place where he was, so that he wouldn't have to move. I was giving everything of myself, and then Mother walked out. I only noticed Mother's presence when I heard her say from behind me, "Oh, Joe you have such a good spirit." I couldn't even turn around to acknowledge Mother, because I was so busy hitting the birdie back to Father. But when she said that, I felt as if all my ancestors were whirling around me and celebrating. Father and Mother never even took very much time for their own family, but they would sometimes personally take care of us on the staff in this way.

God gave me another wonderful experience on a day when Father and Mother were to come home after being out of the country for almost a year. I was standing quite a distance away from the house, where I could clearly see the whole house with the Hudson River and the hills in the background. I knew that the True Children would be so happy to finally see Father and Mother. But what about the creation and the house itself? Wouldn't even the creation respond to True Parents' return? Suddenly their car drove up, and Father and Mother got out and entered the main house. I knew that, as they always do, they would immediately go to pray. At the moment they were probably finishing their prayer, I looked up and saw a huge double rainbow arching directly over the house. I had never seen a double rainbow before. My rational mind thought, "Well, this is a natural phenomenon. I just happen to be standing in the right place at the right time to see a double rainbow over the house But my heartistic or original mind was thinking differently: "Look! Even the creation is responding to True Parents' return, and I happen to be in the position to witness it!" If I had not been thinking deeply before that moment, I'm certain God would never have put me in a position to see such a phenomenon. In my heart I knew it was not a coincidence.

Question: How did you come to start working again in the visual arts field? Was it while you were at East Garden?

It happened that about three years before I had to leave East Garden due to health problems, Mrs. Won Pok Choi asked me, "Joe, why don't you do Father's portrait?" I was hesitant. I knew Father didn't like most of the portraits done of him because so far no one had really understood the essence or meaning of Father's features. One time a sculpture that someone did of him was placed in the dining room at East Garden. After a few days it disappeared, and I learned that Father had taken it out to the back porch and destroyed it. I think Father is very sensitive about what happened to Jesus -- people made engravings and images of Jesus and worshiped his image rather than following what he taught. I don't think Father wants that mistake to happen again. Also Kim Il Sung has statues of himself all over North Korea. So I believe Father is very careful about this kind of thing.

I did, however, do a drawing of Father's face. Mrs. Choi's deep guidance was very helpful. She explained to me about Father's features -- what he had gone through and how those experiences had changed his countenance. Based on her explanations I altered the picture many times. Once, when I was working on it, Father walked in. Mrs. Choi picked it up and showed it to him. I was so nervous. After a pause, Father, with no expression on his face, said, "Good." I heard later that Father said it was the only portrait he really liked. I was told that it is in Father's bedroom, and I was also told that Father and Mother requested that I continue my artwork. However, it wasn't until I left East Garden several years later that I had the opportunity to do so.

When I left East Garden I was given the mission of taking care of the church property at Mt. Kisco. There I started painting again. But I began to have a lot of difficulties and doubts: "Can I really do this?" I thought I was getting pretty old and that it was late to start this profession again. I felt a lack of self-confidence.

Then a chance came for me to move to Manhattan and attend the famous Art Students League of New York. I started going there once a week and later full time. During the last three years I've been studying there on a scholarship. I'm a class monitor now, which means I take responsibility for the class when the teacher is absent.

When I started, I could see that the students who were on drugs and doing all kinds of strange things didn't develop artistically at all, but the work of the students who had some vision about life, such as Christians and conscientious people, developed fairly well. I started to learn very quickly and to excel, and I realized that because of my providential position, I must be getting a lot of help from the spirit world. I believe artists in the spirit world are longing to work through the artists in the Unification Church. They want to help to build God's Kingdom through us. Their help has been very evident to me. Whenever I'm struggling with some problem in my art, I make an effort to pray and renew my commitment. Then I always experience some greater clarity of perception or inspiration toward a solution.

Joe Willett with a portrait he did of his wife, Sun Hyung.

Question: What kind of art do you do?

Landscapes, still-lifes, and murals, but mostly portraits and figurative work. Because human beings have the potential to be true sons and daughters of God, it's an awesome, exciting experience to try to bring out a person's true nature and character on canvas. I'm studying a kind of realism -- not photo-realism, but a realism similar to John Singer Sargent's work. In the whole world there are probably a handful of artists that are real masters in this style. I have the great fortune to be studying under a few of those great masters.

Question: What is it that makes an artist a master?

My idea of a master is someone who can communicate his vision and heart to anyone who sees his work.

It is someone who has disciplined himself to work endless hours, has focused his whole lifestyle, vision, and effort towards one goal, and has perfected it in his lifetime. That's my aspiration. That's why I feel art is a life-and-death struggle. This is not a "Sunday painter" type of thing for me. I feel I have to be at least as serious as a fundraiser out there on the corner. Without this urgent feeling, the spirit world won't work through me.

Question: How do you feel the visual arts can contribute to the restoration process? How are you personally trying to contribute?

Art is an important and different way of introducing people to the ideal world, of conveying God's heart to them. I think art can play a very important role in the restoration process by bringing man back to God, by healing him, stimulating his original mind, and offering him greater vision and hope.

Some people who would not attend a Principle lecture can be moved, touched, and motivated through the arts.

As part of an ongoing prayer, cold shower, and study condition that I started four years ago, I've prayed with a desperate and serious heart for the visual arts to be able to serve in building our Father's Kingdom. I feel that doing people's portraits can be a very practical way to help build good relationships. It can be an effective witnessing method to move people's hearts. Painting portraits may help us reach out to and honor top government leaders. In Western culture, receiving a portrait is considered very prestigious. And to give you some idea of the value of portraits, my former art teacher receives $80,000 a portrait and still has a two-year waiting list. Imagine having a five-hour portrait session with a foreign head of state or the head of a large corporation! If I tried to arrange a meeting with a high-level person just to talk, I would probably only get 10 or 15 minutes, if that. Question: What kinds of things have you done so far?

I just finished a commissioned portrait of the President and First Lady of Liberia. I'm also working on a portrait of Ambassador Phillip Sanchez, publisher of Noticias del Mundo. Last year I did a ceiling mural 13 meters in diameter at Dr. Bo Hi Pak's request, for a VIP guest house in Washington DC. I also did the paintings of the flower gardens that are on the walls in the lobby of the World Mission Center.

For artwork I did promoting the Coast Guard, I was presented with a certificate of appreciation from the Admiral of the Coast Guard, and right now I'm serving as a judge for one of their art shows. This is a great way to relate to people outside our church and to actually influence the art world. People come to realize that even though you are a member of the Unification Church, you are a real human being, and besides that, also a real artist. It's a step forward in that it changes the one-dimensional view people still have of "Moonies." From there we can start inspiring them with a greater vision -- Father's vision.

A life size portrait of Mr. Jerry Woljnsky by Joe Willett.

Question: What are some of your immediate and long-term goals?

I want to do portraits of other people as preparation for the ultimate portrait I would like to do of True Parents. I also would like to do portraits of all the leaders of our church and scenes of the major providential events in our church history, because in generations to come, people will want to look back at this very special time in history when True Parents were alive on earth.

To build some financial foundation, I'm doing mail outs now for my portrait business, in the hopes that I can start supporting the church. To have my work placed in more galleries would be very helpful and effective, too. In 1984 I had a show at the Nelson Rockefeller Collection Gallery, and I was also accepted by the Grand Central Galleries, one of the most prominent galleries in New York City. I'd also love to help brothers and sisters by doing artwork for Unification publications. I believe Father is going to need more and more people to whom he can say, "I need this done and it will get done. We need to be qualified to do whatever Father asks us to do. I'm preparing myself to be able to respond when that time comes. I feel it's my responsibility to train and discipline myself so that my skills can be used for a greater purpose; this is why I want to continue studying.

Question: What are some of the challenges you face as an artist in the church?

I still have a lot of challenges before me, and things to overcome. For example, just on the physical level, if I open the windows in my studio here in New York City, the air that comes in is so dirty that dust and grime form a film over the paintings, which destroys them. In the wintertime, if the room gets below freezing, there is a danger that the paintings will crack and be destroyed. A good studio with an unobstructed light source from the north is essential yet very difficult to obtain.

Developing my original mind is a life-long struggle. For me it depends on how much I can intuitively know God's heart and what He wants to express through me. The more I can become a channel for Him, the greater the things will be that can be expressed. Sometimes I get too caught up with the technical aspect of something. If there's no heart involved, I have no motivation to continue. We have to work continuously on perfecting ourselves, taking the challenges day by day. I realize that God gave me this talent not just for my own pleasure but to realize a higher purpose, vision, and hope. By myself I can do almost nothing, but when I allow God to work through me I have no concepts about what He can accomplish.

Artists in the past suffered a lot for the sake of their work, in order to bring beauty to the world. Because they suffered so much materially, heartistically, and spiritually, I felt when I started my course as an artist in the church that I too should go that route in order to restore that suffering. So for the last ten years I insisted on living a harsh, ascetic life -- sort Old-Testament style. I felt that unless I were willing to suffer like the artists of the past, they would not be willing to work through me. So I never even bought any clothes for myself. I sometimes inherited clothing from other people. I never bought any clothes for my wife either. That kind of life is okay for a man, but it was a lot more difficult for my wife, even though she was uncomplaining. Sometimes she would miraculously receive clothing from the True Family. Then I would feel that God was moved to give her those clothes because I wasn't taking enough care of her. Yet I persisted in thinking, "I've got to suffer like past artists have suffered." But we can't restrict ourselves to just following a harsh course; in order to become ideal, well-balanced people, we also have to attain a higher level of heart. I know I have to move into the realm of a father/child relationship with Heavenly Father as opposed to just being a laborer for the Kingdom of Heaven. Now I'm very concerned about creating a foundation of heart that God can use in my artwork.

Question: Has Father expressed his vision for this type of art?

I don't know if I can as yet comprehend Father's ideal for the visual arts. I believe Father said this is probably one of the last areas that will be restored. However, I believe the arts will play a very central role in the establishment of God's Kingdom. Father has said on some occasions that the arts will be able to usher in the new age.

When I was younger, I once read a book about how art flourished at the time of the Renaissance, and I started to believe deeply that a similar movement would happen in the future. I sense that there's a new Renaissance coming, with the arts playing a central part in establishing God's Kingdom. In my opinion, an artist can't have a bigger vision than the vision of working for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Many artists in the church have been longing for this providence to develop. Not so long ago, Father inspired the creation of the Artists Association International (AAI). This organization is geared mainly toward the performing arts, but some members here on the East Coast who are visual artists have met informally to discuss how we can contribute to the AAI and how the visual arts can serve in the building of the Kingdom. We've had some meetings with up to 40 members attending.

Some of the questions we are asking ourselves are, "What kind of vision of the Kingdom of Heaven are we going to express?" and "How will the visual arts be able to support God's Kingdom?" Art has been used by the communists to bring their ideology across. I think we can use art to bring across the idea of the ideal world. It's not going to be limited to certain style. Any true, pure expression of the heart is a valid offering. We cannot say that in the ideal world only realistic art will be acceptable, and abstract art won't. Father doesn't have a narrow mind about that.

Question: What's your opinion of the art world today?

There are serious artists who are starving, while others are selling their poor-quality work for enormous sums. Years ago, it would take an artist at least 10 years of tremendous effort to make a solid foundation and become successful. Today an artist can become well-known overnight. His name and the work he does are used by promoters to get exorbitant amounts of money. This has nothing to do with quality and simply shows that people have a very cynical attitude about art today.

Many of the works we see today are so individualistic, so antiestablishment, that they deny all other kinds of art. People are just looking for novelty, but there's no heart, no spirit, no content, no tradition, no communication in this kind of art. It may represent the world today with its mass confusion, but it doesn't represent the original mind and heart of God and man. Even though an artist may have great technical ability, if his heart is immature, the quality and depth of his artistic expression will be limited. We artists in the church want to try to bring these original ideals back, but we feel we are going up river against the current.

Some artists are still trying to keep their ideals about art alive while dealing with the reality of the art world, but it's difficult. The process of how to restore heart in the art world is something that we are still trying to understand. We are studying the Principle and praying for greater clarity and vision about the field of visual arts and how it can help build God's Kingdom. We won't break into the art world merely by criticizing it.

Question: Have you had any experiences with Heung Jin Nim?

Of all the True Children, Heung Jin Nim was the one who made me feel most like a personal friend while I was at East Garden, not just a body guard who had to tag along. That was very special about him. We used to go out and do things together, but he never made me feel like a burden to him. He was a very sensitive, genuine, and real person. He really knew how to take care of people.

Recently I learned that Heung Jin Nim said something about me while he was talking generally to other members. I was in the middle of preparing a mail out describing my portrait work, and I was feeling it was just a tedious burden, just external. Heung Jin Nim understood well how I felt and said I shouldn't feel as if the mail out were a burden, but rather a blessing to all those I send it to. Because of that insight I could change my attitude. He also said that "Joe could be a great artist if he could offer up his art for the sake of mankind and offer up his resentment." His words struck a deep chord in me. I realized I had to offer up even my resentment because God couldn't work through me well if I harbored negative emotions of guilt, resentment, and remorse.

Heung Jin Nim further said that "Joe should feel that his artwork is for the sake of the world, for the sake of heaven and earth and mankind." This was a precious reminder to me about how I should see my own work. I felt reassured that my artwork was a heavenly labor for the Kingdom. Heung Jin Nim's timing and these words were like jewels falling from the sky.

Question: Have you ever had any deep spiritual experiences?

Once I had an amazing revelation. It was at a time when I hadn't done any artwork for about six or seven years, but I had kept my portfolio that represented 15 years of my best work. There was a fire in the building where I lived, and I lost all of my belongings. It was such a shock that I didn't realize till two weeks later, when I was driving by an art store, that all my years of artwork had gone up in smoke. That hit me so hard that I had to pull the car over, and I just cried and cried. Then I felt God's presence, and He imparted to me, "Now you know how I feel about the loss of creation, about the fall of Adam and Eve' The experience was incredibly painful and very deep. I could grasp maybe just a tiny aspect of God's heart, but it helped me begin to understand His feeling at the time of the fall. Losing my portfolio was almost more than I could bear, but when I realized how small my pain was compared to God's pain, I repented. I saw a vision of myself standing at the bottom of God's heart, and it was like a huge, vast, empty chamber. I thought, "Is this the heart of God? This empty dark place?" It was so lonely there. This was quite a revelation to me. Through these kinds of experiences I now know that it's not so much what we do externally that matters, but it's the heart behind our offering that really makes a difference to heaven.