Art matters in a time of crisis, for the connection to the energy and spirit of creativity is a vital life force, not just for culture but for civilization itself.

 

The arts bind us to the lineage of cultures past and present and show us the sustaining power of the human heart and mind. They lift us, they bewilder us, and some times disturb. The arts show us the bigger picture. They allow us to stop and contemplate. They make us think. They evoke wonder. They can bring solace. And they give us a view into the ineffable nature of who we are.

          

My art practice makes it possible to sustain the unsettling period of not knowing. It gives me a process which I can grapple with, that somehow departs from the fear and anxiety that a crisis can ensue. Sometimes inspiration is nowhere to be found and a dull futility can be felt, yet the work remains waiting for my return.

There is a popular notion that making art is all happiness and light. It is not. All the many years of attending to this practice has shown me how it parallels the reality of the human growth process itself. There are the struggles and difficult moments, the failures, thefrustrations, and the doubts. But these periods are to be faced and struggled through, they are part of the whole process.

And then, like an act of grace, there are the moments of breakthrough when the gifts of the practice are suddenly achieved, and the discoveries bring a fulfillment that cannot be found in any other way.  It’s all such a wonderful teaching and reflects the very nature of our human life.