What Art Offers

 I was at an art show (FORMS, FACES & SPACES) hosted by STUDIOS BY DESIGN.  The moderator (Robert Steven of Portrait Gallery of Canada), spoke with a panel of four visual artists. Below I intersperse some of the questions, the answers, and my interpretations and best recollection. I’ve written before about why create art? It fascinates me – people with the desire to create, be it music, poetry, short stories, books, (even blogs!), photography that tells a story, paintings, sculptures, and then offer them to the world saying, ”Look at this . . .”

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What does art do for you, for others? Does art create hope or is it the other way around . . . hope creates art, love creates art, curiosity creates art.

One of the panelists said, “Art is my language.” Words come less easily to her, but through art, she can speak. Art not as an expression but as a language! I loved that.

Another, a young photographer, part Indigenous, part Black, said for years he denied both his cultures, didn’t want to be contained within a culture that endured so much pain and hardship. But now, through his photography, he tells the stories of others, of the hidden workers – those who do the hard, low-paying, thankless jobs that we don’t see. Or would rather not see. Look, he says to us with his photographs, look, here is a human being, just like you, with a story. Do you not want to see, to know?

Is art a form of activism then? It can be, but no, one of the panelists said. She has been to the poorest places in Africa and uses her photography not as a form of activism but to bear witness. As a human being, she can’t turn away when she sees suffering and injustices. She may not be able to fix it, but she can use her art to bring it to light so that others also see.

Is art a way of helping then, of giving? No, not at first, was another response. We must first be selfish and learn as much as we can, hone our skills, practice, know who we are and what we have to offer – before we can be of help to others. It’s like the oxygen mask on the plane, where we need to save ourselves first before we can save another. You can’t give what you don’t have.

What will your art say to others when you are gone? Do you want it to say anything? Or do you let the art speak for itself? In this the panelists were unanimous – let the art ask the questions, let it spark thoughts and emotions, let it speak for itself. Art can highlight smalls moments of magic, it can showcase the unexpected, or portray a glimpse of despair.

And who is to say which piece is better or more valuable? We monetize everything, declaring one piece superior because it sells for more.  And yet, what about the artist whose pieces are so priceless that they are only for display in museums.

When do you call yourself an artist? The young black photographer balked at this, feeling that one has to earn the right to call himself an artist. But is that true? Does one need to earn that right and who sets the standards? It was a sentiment echoed in the room, among the panelists and the audience, myself included, that there was much hesitation in proclaiming oneself an artist. The older artists said it took them many years before they could say, “I am an artist.”

We label ourselves. We label others. We label our creations, with words and price tags and pithy adjectives.

The moderator asked each of the artists whether they were an introvert or an extrovert and did that contribute to their art? It is a question that resonates with me. One artist was an introvert, the other three a combination. Is there a causal relationship there then? Are you an artist because you’re an introvert, standing back and observing? Or is it because you are quietly looking and absorbing, that art is the result?

Do you create because you’re curious, driven to explore something outside yourself or within?

One artist answered, “Anytime we set out to explore something outside ourselves, we are also exploring ourselves.”

The world is full of questions, but art doesn’t hand you the answers. It makes an offering.

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