Does Art Matter During a Pandemic? 5 Reasons Why It's More Important Than Ever.
There have been times in my life when I had nothing left to give to my art, and finding inspiration to paint felt like more than I could do. Grieving the death of a friend stole my energy for months longer than I expected, and even minor life interruptions (like when my children switched schools mid-year) took the wind out of my creative sails and left me adrift.
As I write this, the tension in our society has simmered, boiled, spilled over, and is seemingly again at another boiling point. With a pandemic, racial inequality, presidential election, wildfires and devastating weather patterns, it’s been a “poison in both goblets” kind of year. It has never felt less safe to open social media or more agitating to watch the news, not in generations.
So how do you make art when the world is on fire? And should you even try?
For me, these last months have convinced me that we need art now more than ever.
We need to make art:
To have a safe place to be ourselves
To get away from the noise and voices demanding our attention
To be reminded that beauty still exists
To learn how to heal
To connect on a deeper level
It’s felt incredibly difficult to be motivated or inspired to pick up a paintbrush these days. When we live in an environment of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty about the future, how can we feel any motivation to create?
Art as a safe space of non-judgment
I need art to be my safe space. I used to think that I was learning to have a relationship with watercolor, allowing it to flow and do its thing, and I would trust it and work alongside it. That does happen, but I am also learning that I need to have a good relationship with myself in order to feel safe and free to make art at all.
With my closest friends, I am free from the need to perform and achieve to earn their love and acceptance, and I want to be that kind of friend to myself; to feel free to come into a creative session and just hang out and BE. When nowhere else feels safe, I can learn to create in safety, to be someone who welcomes time alone and accepts my weirdness, my strong opinions, my personality and my limitations where I'm at right now. Making art is teaching me how to do that.
Getting away from the noise
I wonder sometimes if I'm taking the easy way out. When the world gets too loud, I can cocoon myself in a little bubble, alone with my brush. I turn off the phone, I banish social media, and my world shrinks down to the paper in front of me and solving the never-ending mystery of how to take the imagination of my thoughts and pin it to a sheet of paper.
Is this irresponsible of me? Some would say I have an obligation to participate, to be informed. I’m not so sure. I live in a world where there is very little that I can control. All of my knowledge of world events and hot-button issues doesn't change the fact that my capacity to create change is limited to my voice and my vote. When I'm in the studio, I'm not watching the news and feeling destroyed by loss and despair. In the studio, I'm not composing posts to argue a point or defend my position. I’m letting my bubble float back to center level, getting some equilibrium, some distance from the intrusions into my peace.
In stepping away from the noise, I'm living my belief that my small life lived in intention and integrity, working to foster community within my small sphere of influence is what creates true and lasting change. I work in faith that this too will pass; that progress is happening though painfully slow, that bad leaders come and go, that kindness and faith can still be found, that God is still at work. I see truth and beauty radiate on the small square of canvas that is my life, and trust that I’m not alone in shining where I am. It takes light to diminish darkness.
To be reminded that beauty still exists
Every day of this pandemic, even when our eyes have been fixed on trauma and loss, the sun has risen and set. Moments of light and shadow play across the walls of our homes as we are shut in away from the world. Even through wildfire smoke, we witness the shift from darkness to light, and know that day has come again.
In watercolor, I have learned to look for the light. In the darkest painting, it is the light that we see, a patch of white will demand attention like no other part of the painting. I have learned that when I allow my brush to linger on the darkest hues, I lose the light and my painting lacks the essential ingredient that will bring it to life.
Art needs to thrive most during the darkest times because art always looks for beauty, and what is more beautiful than hope? In the light we find beauty, and artists are seekers of light.
To learn how to heal
I've been privileged to teach and work with thousands of artists over the past few years, and what I am most struck by is the courage and spirit I find in these amazing fellow artists. I believe there is a reason why artists offer such an example of indomitable perseverance, and that is because at its heart, all art is problem solving. Every artist starts with a problem; we have a head full of images and desire to find a way to make our ideas tangible. We work to develop skill, we fight inner critics that shame us for our failings and mock our best efforts. We are always seeking to become better, always conscious of our shortcomings, and the successful artist persists despite his limitations. In fact, often our limitations become the very things that make up our unique style and expression!
The greatest battle any artist will face is the one in our mind; overcoming the voice that tells us we have nothing to offer. It takes emotional intelligence to learn how to overcome the inner critic, and develop mindsets that will support a creative practice, and these strategies are incredibly valuable to all areas of life and the challenges we face.
Artists believe that change brings opportunity, that everything is solvable. A healthy mindset can be built on this foundation, and healing can be found.
To connect on a deeper level
In making art, I have learned that I can share who I am free from labels. Change is resisted in an “us against them” climate; it is in finding common ground that we are able to have conversations that create lasting, heart-felt change. As an artist I have found myself in relationship with people who are on the opposite spectrum from me politically, socially, culturally and religiously. We have found something that unites us and this has given me an appreciation for people who believe very differently than me; that while we are opposites on many levels, they are well-intentioned, thoughtful human beings, and I value them. I am learning how to listen without judgment, and while I don’t always do this perfectly, I want to learn how to listen and speak and create a safe space for others to do the same.
To make art is to live in perpetual hope that there is a better painting in my future, that the choices I am making to grow my skills today will pay off in the months and years to come. I want the same mindset for my life, today more than ever.
How is art helping you cope in hard times? Leave a comment below.