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The Creative Life
A symptom is not a “disorder.” It is a truth that needs to be heard. — Agnes Aflalo
One of the things art does is heal. It heals the mind, it heals the body and the soul, just by its practice, regardless of the quality of the work. That’s why it’s worth doing at whatever level you can achieve.
Abstract art may be less comprehensible than representational art to the general public, but it affords the same healing powers to the practitioner. As an abstract artist, I can personally attest to that.
All the mystique that clings to the appellation “artist” is of no import compared to the simple practice of making art. It’s a spiritual discipline because it requires an elevated consciousness. You have to be hyper alert to relationships between strokes, colors and spacial areas. You have to perceive energetic flows and concentrations. You have to know when things are out of balance. You rely on your intuition to sense when the work is finished.
It’s not mathematical. It’s instinctual. That’s why it’s called art.
And then there is beauty, that thing that exists in the eye of the beholder. If you create a statement that speaks clearly and strongly, it will approach beauty, regardless of its subject.
I started as an adolescent to make art, with all the misconceptions an adolescent would have. I…
