In one of my early blogs I posed the question "What is Art". After hosting The Magnificent Minds Project, a showcase of the immense ingenuity and artistic abilities of individuals who have mental illness, I now have another answer to this question. In reading some of the biographies of the artists I was certainly humbled that I could show their work in the gallery. One comment from an artist, "I'm in permanent winter, can't remember spring: Trying to tie two ends together of an invisible string..." Another artist commented "This is the first time I've painted a picture - now I know I can teach myself" Another artist wrote, "I don't always make the right decisions even if I know the danger is there..... I've had to rise from the ruins so many times. Art therapy is a bridge and a haven". And another, "For years and years I ran from the ridiculous, the fear of recognizing and dealing with my mental illness......... that is why awareness and exposure of mental illness is so very important..............I encourage others to stop running from the ridiculous and love yourself today".
These are all such powerful words and thoughts. I will close with one more artist's writing, "The opposite of a lie is not only the truth. It is also an honest balance between the spectrum you can see, and the one you can't".
Magnificent, indeed!
ReplyDeleteNo human is born devoid the desire to create. Artistic expression is far less an exercise of the intellect, than it is an out-picturing of the soul.
Each person, and so their art, is unique. No one is better or more important than another...at least this is true when viewed through the eyes of love and not through the narrow lens of convention.
Will you be in the gallery with this art, any time this coming week?
Thank you for Gallery Blu ~