The following article first appeared in the July 2001Boost-A-Month Club Newsletter.  For more information about becoming a Boost-A-Month Club member, call 1-800-935-0975 or contact Father Dominic Duggins.

Missioner Evangelizes Through His Art
Father Bruce Brylinski: Puppeteer, Painter, Artist

In a distinct Appalachian accent, Zoeisha laments that outsiders are trying to steal her mineral rights and she is fearful of the final outcome. Father Bruce uses his art and puppets, such as Zoeisha, as evangelization tools reaching out to adults as well as children.

Upon entering Marshall University’s Bike Gallery in Huntington, W.Va. one’s eyes are drawn to a number of large oil paintings by Glenmary Father Bruce Brylinski. But attention immediately shifts to Zoeisha, a larger than life puppet seated on a kitchen chair in the center of the gallery. (See photo on reverse side.) Zoeisha (derived from the Greek zoe, meaning “life”) is a weary Appalachian woman seeking justice from those attempting to steal her mineral rights.

As the show begins, the contrast of Father Bruce’s red-lapelled ringmaster’s jacket and deep baritone voice blend shockingly with Zoeisha’s gaudy purple and red dress and mountain accent.

Her enormous head sprouts patches of gray hair and her potato-shaped nose overhangs a pair of wide, limber lips. Her muscular legs are clothed in thick brown stockings that rise up out of black, high-top shoes. When tempted by the puppeteer to swallow a mysterious seed, she complies. Her long neck flops to one side, as if broken, and deep snoring ensues. Her story is mystical and concerns transformation.

With the infusion of God (the seed) into humanity, the audience witnesses Zoeisha’s visit by a colorful dancing spirit; her birth pangs of “conversion”; and her body being pulled inside out through the tricky maneuvering of Father Bruce’s skilled hands.

The audience further beholds her acquisition of feminine power and eventual resurrection into a beautiful, high-spirited figure bursting with energy as she and the puppeteer frolic about the stage to bouncy music. (Father Bruce uses  a form of puppet theater where the puppeteer and the puppet are seen at the same time). The show concludes with the enlivened puppeteer being invited to taste of the magic seed. Will he?

How does “puppetry” figure in the life of a home missioner? “This particular ministry,” says Father Bruce, who also serves as sacramental minister to Sts. John and Elizabeth Church in Grayson, Ky., “is very much akin to Jesus telling parables. It’s an easy way of going to many different places and telling stories that are very indirect. But, like the parables, if you keep working with them, you’ll get a deeper meaning.”

The May art and puppet show marked the culmination of Father Bruce’s studies at Marshall University where he earned a master’s degree in art.

Through his art, his aim is to plant a seed. “My program is Catholic,” he says. “My work (as an artist) in the parish and community can be seen as an evangelization tool. When working with children (who may or may not be Catholic), I’ve used animal puppets and told the children stories of Native American history as well as stories of John the Baptist. I’ve also had a Catholic nun talk to the children about spiritual health.

“So far, the children have been very animated and attracted to the puppet characters,” he says, adding that the children ask a lot of questions. The performances also stir up something in adults. While the story is seemingly simple on the surface, it does not deal with simple ideas and is very complex, much like mythology. There is a deeper truth to it.”

Father Bruce produced the puppet show featuring Zoeisha in its entirety, from developing the story to creating and building the puppets, which are traditional rod-and-hand puppets made of a foam base. He adds that he sometimes gets his costumes from odd places but, for the most part, “I design, cut and sew the costumes myself.”

The puppets weren’t the only part of the show that received acclaim. Oil paintings and “assemblages,” intricate works representing a collection of “found” items combined to express a certain emotion or story, were also part of the show. 

Three of his displayed paintings, ranging in size from 3 x 5 feet to 5 x 6 feet, represent “the priestly experience of being at the altar,” he says. The startling light in the paintings, he says, is the infusion of the Holy Spirit.

Through his ministry of art, he says, he “continues to speak about God’s Holy Spirit which is not measured simply by success and financial profit but by one’s faithfulness in the journey of following Jesus….”

—Joan McAteer

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