Reaching into the depths
Where does it come from—the power in some artwork to just grab hold of you? That draws you in. That keeps you from looking away.
Twice this past week, while enjoying my start-of-the-day with poetry reading, I have been absolutely blown away.
If I had been walking, I would have have stopped cold in my tracks.
As it was, seated on my porch, I felt—for a moment—unable to move or to breathe. The words I was reading were so powerful. In each case, the work was a fairly simple poem based on family memories.
But the poet had reached so deep into the memory that the simple scenes being described became a door to meaning and understanding. I could feel the poet struggling to get to the heart of what was important, and then grasp it. And then give it to me.
Profoundly wonderful experience.
And that’s the heart of artmaking.
There are multiple wells. It might be family history.
It might be engagement (enragement?) with social and political realities.
It might be spiritual connection to the natural world. Beyond acknowledging that it is beautiful.
It might be a way of seeing that has come to you from reading intriguing, thought-provoking or new ideas.
As an appreciator of art, be open to the artist’s invitation to look down that well of source idea and inspiration. The work will mean more.
As a maker of artwork, be open to that stage of creating that comes before applying your methods and processes are. Draw from the well
(The work depicted in thIs post is “Small Expectations.” It’s one of my earliest fabric artworks and still one I especially like. It was one of my first steps into making artwork that is about something. The faceless girls, based on scrapbook images of myself and my sister, are set in a background of text describing good and appropriate behavior for young women. As compared to the good teaching many girls receive today—“You can be anything! Don’t limit yourself! Go for it!”—the expectations we received in the 1950’s were pretty small. You can learn more about this work on my website: SMALL EXPECTATIONS.)
For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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