Art is emotion, feelings, passion, humor, and the unveiling of one’s spirit. Creating art can open one up to things inside of their being they were not sure were there or maybe they knew were there but needed to expose it and show it to other human beings. Viewing art can reveal to the viewer something inside of themselves or a perspective seen from the artist’s standpoint that they were trying to reveal to the viewer. The emotions felt when looking at, touching, or listening to a piece of art, have a greater bandwidth than I realized until recently.
The Last Supper was just a piece of art that someone threw together and was reprinted and hung in countless homes I had visited – until I learned the techniques and countless hours that DaVinci put into creating it and educating myself which mediums he used and how long it took him to paint it on the wall of the monastery in Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan Italy, as well as the efforts of many to restore it over the years.
Prior to observing the painting Interrogation by Ali Banidadr, I thought of abstract art as paint thrown onto a canvas carelessly and haphazardly to sell a piece of “art” for thousands of dollars and more. While studying this painting I saw so much more than that. I saw a war scene and brilliant colors placed on a canvas with intentionality and purpose. The use of lines in the painting created a scene that would be missed had I not taken the time to see what the artist intended. I saw a canvas “filled with activity, a battle on earth and a possible spiritual battle” as well.
I have lived in my city for a little over three years and have noticed several statues in the park nearby. I always liked the statues, but really paid little attention to their details or put much thought into who created them. While studying sculpture as a form of art, I was sent to take photographs of one and ended up taking photos of many of them. I also ran into a homeless lady named Katie who knew much of the city’s history, and we spoke for about an hour about the artists and how the statues came to be and how long they have been in the city center. Hearing her passion for them sparked an appreciation for them that I did not have previously. As I drive by The Secret Bench of Knowledge on my way home from work every day I think of the Canadian artist Lea Vivot, and how the bench used to be in Naples but was moved to Bonita and I am thankful that they no longer appreciated it and that I now have the pleasure of it being in my city.
Poetry has never been something I appreciated much because I did not take the time to appreciate it. Dog was just a story of a dog who “wandered the streets enjoying the surroundings and taking in sights and smells of the city” until I read the poem a few times, then realized there was something political being said and had nothing really to do with a dog at all! What creativity to take a story about a dog and make it human.
Music has always been my top priority of most days. I love listening to music as it does much for my soul and how I feel and changes my mood if necessary. Every song I found to do with happiness, not only had words that reflected happiness, but the musical notes themselves made me feel good and lifted me up.
From the music that “incites happiness,” to the poem Dog which I thought was about a happy dog wandering the streets living his best life, to The Last Supper, I can distinguish that I lean toward things that are either spiritual in nature or that bring a sense of happiness to me. It is easy to fall prey to the negativity of the world and it can drag you down before you even know what happened. Through this journey, I can see that I have a constant drive that brings me towards things that will turn an adversarial day into a sunny one instead. Not only have I been able to recognize a constant in my personality or things I am drawn to, but I have a new appreciation for art and the artists who create them.