At the beginning of my artistic journey, I often asked myself what the true meaning of art is or what it means to me personally. It was very difficult to find a simple answer to this question because this topic is very broad and very individual. Nevertheless, I wanted to try to present my point of view and I have summarised my thoughts below.
Art is the language of our imagination and subconscious
“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.” — Georgia O’Keeffe
According to the dictionary definition art is the use of the imagination to express ideas or feelings, particularly in painting, drawing or sculpture.
In my opinion is art more than a mere use of the imagination. It is the language we use to express our imagination, where words are replaced by colours and symbols, phrases by colour combinations and compositions to express ideas and feelings. Through art ideas, dreams and feelings are translated into pictures. Sometimes our works are the channel through which we tell stories that are deep hidden in our subconscious and that we would never tell under normal rational circumstances.
Art as a timeless and endless language
Another aspect of art is that it has no limits in terms of space and time. We are able to admire paintings and sculptures from different times and still understand their message or consider it as something actual that belongs to our time. Why is it so?
I think that the mankind is in continuous development but there is one thing that has always remained constant in our history and this is the way we feel and communicate our emotions. For this reason universal themes such as love, fear, pain or our subconscious in paintings are easy to be recognized in paintings or other artworks.
Art is an instinctively language
Furthermore art is a matter of instinct. Every time we look at a picture we are captured by the colours used in it: immediately we can feel the anger, the happiness, the anxieties of the artist and make them ours. This is the magic of art: we manage to unlock the artist’s message because it is natural for us to associate the used colours to a particular feeling or concept: red to passion, love, warmth, fire but also danger, attention and urgency; yellow and orange to energy, enthusiasm and positivity; green to hope, relax, wellness, nature; blue and its hues to lightness, calmness; pink and purple to elegance, luxury, beauty; white to purity; black to fear, darkness, luxury and elegance.
This is the beauty of art. It’s emotional and a once you let yourself look at the artworks with the eyes of your soul, you will be able to travel in space and time and understand the emotional world of the artist through his masterpieces.
Final words on the meaning of art
To summarise, I see art as a timeless, boundless and instinctive language that is able to speak to all hearts.
And to you? What is art to you? Let me know in the comments below.
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Have a colourful and creative day!
Laura
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