FRIAR JAKI’S DIALOGUE WITH CREATION

Nowhere, as in the creative work of Friar Joakim Jaki Gregov (1952–2024), do mysticism and reality intertwine so profoundly, where spiritual depth and visual power merge to create a singular artistic experience. His art stands as a manifestation of boundless education — of mind, spirit, heart, and the homo faber. This unity forms both the foundation and the lived essence of his work, flowing like water — gathering and giving, bringing freshness and renewal to a dry and thirsty soul.

Fra Jaki — priest, Franciscan friar, missionary, academic sculptor, artist, poet, restorer, cook, military chaplain, naval commander, electrician, fisherman, altruist, philanthropist and tireless doer of selfless good deeds.

Born on the island of Pašman, in the town of the same name, to parents Augustin and Petrica Gregov (née Grgin), Jaki first encountered metal shaping and sculpture as a child in his father’s blacksmith shop. These early experiences with the pliable nature of metal accompanied him throughout his life, becoming the driving force behind his innate urge to create and shape.

In his youth, the sea served as both inspiration and energy — moving him to paint nature, depict fish, and carve wooden ship sculptures. He completed his secondary education at the Franciscan Academy in Split, where his desire for artistic expression continued to flourish. Ordained as a Franciscan priest in 1980, he united his spiritual calling with art by enrolling at the Scuola delle Arti Ornamentali in Rome. Under the guidance of renowned educator and artist Bernardo Mario Ciaccia, he spent five years studying, researching, creating, and refining his skills and vision.

From 1984 to 1991, Friar Jaki experienced a period of profound transformation and travel. Like many priest-missionaries, he left for North America — Joakim, the priest-artist, answering the dual call to restore and decorate churches while also serving the Croatian Catholic missions. He embraced both vocations with wholehearted dedication and enthusiasm. Among his most significant works from this time are two monumental wooden reliefs (8 m x 2 m) depicting The Apocalypse. Soon after, he completed major commissions for the Church of St. Nikola Tavelić in Montreal: The Way of the Cross (fourteen tempera paintings on wood with gold leaf), a 4-meter wooden sculpture of Saint Nikola Tavelić for the sanctuary, and an altarpiece — a polyptych of seven tempera and gold-leaf panels — designed for the semicircular presbytery wall. He also created fourteen wood reliefs for the side arcade and front wall.

In 1991, Friar Jaki returned to Croatia and served as a military chaplain in the Croatian Army during the Homeland War. As a priest, he ministered to soldiers, refugees, the displaced, and the wounded. As an artist of tireless energy and vision, he created sculptures, portraits, and compositions; carved altars for destroyed churches; and produced a monumental granite sculpture titled Embracing the Cross (1992) for his monastery in Kraj on Pašman.

In 1999, he left the monastery in Kraj to continue his pastoral and artistic mission on the island of Hvar. Arriving in late autumn, he first assisted the local friars before being appointed Guardian of the Monastery of Our Lady of Mercy, where he dedicated the following years to restoring the neglected Franciscan complex. It was there that Friar Jaki spent the rest of his life, continuing to build an artistic legacy spanning more than fifty years.

Jaki’s life was devoted to serving his people for the glory of God and to creating art in His name. His oeuvre — comprising more than 500 works — stands as a lasting testament to both his artistic mastery and his unwavering commitment to expressing God’s love through creativity. In this vast and inexhaustible body of work, he unites form, color, and line, moving fluidly between celebration and contemplation, always guided by a profound spiritual vision.

The monumental sculpture In Memory of Our Mothers (2021) was conceived and created by Friar Joakim Gregov. His proposal was enthusiastically supported by the Municipality of Pašman, and together they brought the project to life. Positioned along the Pašman waterfront, the monument stands as a tribute to all mothers — each one deserving of a sculpture in her honor. It depicts three generations of mothers, joined by Queen Helena and their children, encircling a cross — the eternal symbol of Christianity.

Son of Man (2023), a colossal sculpture on Pašman, stands as a testament to his unwavering faith in God’s love and humanity’s deep thirst for it. Majestically positioned overlooking the sea, the work commands both attention and reverence. The human form, stripped of excess, becomes a sweeping arc — minimal yet profoundly expressive. It unites sea and land with breathtaking simplicity. Christ’s body is shaped into a question mark. He no longer speaks — He listens. His gaze is turned downward, silently asking each of us: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

His bronze sculptures embody a quiet mysticism. Compact forms emerge from within the material and, at a certain moment, shimmer before the eye like rays of unseen light — an inner radiance seeking release. A spiritual force resonates from within, illuminating the viewer and forging a path toward understanding.

His approach to stone sculpture is distinct. The strength of stone lies in its readiness to be shaped — it retains its essence while remaining receptive and generous. It demands precision; each chisel stroke must follow internal laws and cannot be undone. Stone resists violence but welcomes a steady, confident touch. Stone has a spirit that exists in another dimension. It offers its essence and merges with that of the sculptor. This is the mysticism of creation in stone — it receives the human creative impulse just as it once responded to God’s hand when He formed the world. In Jaki’s work, this mystical dialogue between beauty and goodness, between silence and revelation, is ever-present.

Fra Joakim Jaki Gregov’s relief work in wood reveals his deep reverence for both material and spirit, as well as his remarkable technical mastery. With precise chiseling, delicate layering, and an intuitive sense of depth, he transformed the living grain of wood into narratives of faith, emotion, and movement. His skilled handling of texture and light gave his compositions a sculptural rhythm that seemed to breathe with quiet devotion. In his wooden reliefs, artistry and craftsmanship are inseparable — each stroke of the tool a gesture of both discipline and prayer.

Fra Joakim Jaki Gregov’s iconography and stained-glass works radiate a profound sense of sacred beauty and contemplation. In his icons, he wove together tradition and personal vision — the shimmer of gold, the purity of line, and the harmony of color revealing a world where faith becomes visible. His stained-glass windows, suffused with luminous color, transform light into prayer, filling sacred spaces with warmth and transcendence. Through both media, Fra Jaki sought not merely to depict the divine, but to allow divine light to pass through his art — touching the spirit of all who stand before it.

His creations cast light and shadow, reveal texture, and elevate both matter and spirit. They invite us to dwell within the mysticism of creation — to surrender to the search for, and understanding of, the very essence of life.

Andriana Ciprić 

B.F.A., Art History and B.Ed.