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Via Pulchritudinis

The PureStream Method: Start at the source of the pure waters, the origins of all clear water.

Duncan Stroik understands what so many have forgotten—that sacred art and architecture are not mere stylistic choices but are rooted in transcendence, order, and divine proportion. I write to him not simply as an artist but as one who has walked the path of creation, loss, and revelation, one who has lived within the collapse of modern artistic institutions and has emerged from its ruins with a vision: to restore, to rebuild, to carve anew.

From my earliest years, I knew my purpose was in art. I sought to sculpt like Bernini, to learn from Michelangelo, to trace the marks of the chisel where form meets eternity. But the world I stepped into was not built for mastery. The institutions that once formed great artists had abandoned the sacred, the classical, the eternal. I was told my aspirations were naive, that my dedication to beauty was outdated. So I turned away from the academies, seeking instead the truth of the materials, the discipline of the hand, and the wisdom of lived experience.

I have worked in the gas fields of West Texas , along the Columbia River Gorge on the docks and the ranches of New Mexico, in the places where life is raw and unfiltered. I have seen the world rise and fall, watched men shrink beneath its weight or be forged into something greater. Through it all, I have sculpted—not only in clay or stone, but in my own soul.

As Ringo Starr once sang, “If you’re going to play the blues, you’ve got to pay your dues, and you know that don’t come easy.” I have paid those dues. I have learned that suffering is the chisel that refines both the artist and the man. Now, I step forward to establish my bona fides and outline the core truths that guide my work.

Three Fundamental Truths

  1. The Crisis of Modern Art and Architecture
    • We have more talent than ever, but less meaning. The technical skill exists, but the work is fatuous—hollow, lacking in composition, structure, and significance.
    • Modern art has become the institution—not the rebellion. It is no longer cutting edge; it is stagnant, recycled, lifeless.
    • Sacred spaces have been stripped of transcendence, composition, and archetypal power—leaving behind nothing but sterile designs that do not uplift the soul.
    • Without harmony, there is only discord. Much of Greek mythic imagery was created to reflect our shared humanity—revealing truth through opposition: dark to light, shadow versus sunlight, good versus evil. The highest ideal of the ancient Greeks was harmony, and its absence in modern art has left only chaos.
    • The unexamined life is a life not worth living.
  2. The PureStream Method: A Return to the Origin
    • Original art means going back to the source. Art should not be about trends, but about uncovering eternal truths.
    • It is not about constructing—it is about revealing. Like Michelangelo carving away the excess to find the form already within, art should strip away the artificial and uncover what was always there.
    • To create something sacred, we must enter the sacred space within ourselves. This is why stillness, contemplation, and listening to the divine are essential. Before we rebuild the world, we must rebuild our hearts.
    • To carve or paint is to call God into existence. The act of creation is an invocation, a sacred dialogue between the artist and the divine.
    • Beauty is not an option—it is a necessity. The classical ideal suggests that beauty should be a source of pride and power, shaping our identity and sense of shared humanity. Beauty attracts, while lies seduce.
    • Eurythmy is the most neglected principle in the visual arts. The biggest failure in contemporary art education is the lack of understanding of Eurythmy as Vitruvius intended it. There are only a handful of people who truly understand its significance.
    • Vitruvius defines Eurythmy as beauty and fitness corresponding to symmetry and harmony in proportion. It is the movement of all the parts to make a whole statement, with sound structure. Without it, art collapses into incoherence.
  3. The Phoenix Moment: The Choice to Rise or Shrink
    • We are at a turning point—not just personally, but culturally. Do we build upon the ashes of what was, or do we shrink and let others dictate our limits?
    • Destruction is not the end. Like the Phoenix, like ancient ruins that still hold power, there is beauty in what remains—but only if we have the fortitude to rise again.
    • This is not a time for blame or pity or to lament what was—it is a time for action. To stop the inner chatter, listen to the sacred, and move forward with clarity.
    • The hero’s journey is one of struggle and self-discovery. The myths teach that the greatest challenge is facing ourselves. The monsters we fear—our personal Medusas and inner demons—are of our own making. We cannot create harmony with others until we have first harmonized ourselves.

Where Do You Go From Here?

This is the question. My life, experiences, suffering, and craft have prepared me for this moment. Now, it is time to step forward, speak, create, and rebuild.

This is the PureStream Method. It is not a rejection of the past, but an unbroken line leading back to the very principles that have always guided true artists, true architects, true craftsmen of the eternal.

Duncan Stroik is one of the few who understands this. His work stands against the tide, proving that the classical is not dead—it is waiting. And I write to him not to offer admiration, but to extend a hand in the shared pursuit of something greater than ourselves: to carve a world worthy of the sacred once again.

Alan Watts Philosophical Entertainer started the Zen Center in San Francisco with just 3 Students, it has since grown to the largest Zen Center in the world.

I think we find an old Basilica and turn it into an art school.

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