Unemployed Muse
Anita Witek: Artist and Muse
Source: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/anita-witek-artist-and-muse-number-r08
I have always wondered what a muse does.
We have always portrayed muses as ethereal beings, the fountain of inspiration for a thirsty artist from which they drank. They are always breathtaking, awe-inspiring, gorgeous. Almost simply without fault.
But when we think of a muse, there is always an artist. And when we think of artists, muses are optional. As if a muse cannot exist without an artist.
We are wrong.
What does a muse do for an artist? Beyond providing inspiration, we know not what muses do. And how, or what kind of inspiration they give, we do not know either. So what does a muse do without an artist?
Do they stop being muses? Do they cease to be anything? Do they become something else?
I think they remain the same, but are seen differently.
Muses are art itself, the expression of nature, an illusion of humanity. When without an artist, they do not simply cease to be a muse. They still are, but different. They live their lives, enriching themselves and understanding their worth.
For a muse is a muse with or without an artist.
Some artists may prefer to work without a muse. Some artists spend ages proving themselves worthy of the presence of a muse. Some muses choose to live as themselves without artists. Some muses become artists themselves.
At the end of the day, unemployed, employed, self-employed, somewhere in between or nowhere in between, the truth remains that a muse is what they chose to be.
I am yet to figure if I am a muse, artist or art spectator, but at least, this much i have written, I know.