Creativity
….. is not a function of a rational process alone. Intellectual decisions are made during the process of creating a work of art, but an intuitive function of consciousness we call imagination is necessary as well. Intuition only works when reason is disconnected temporarily.
Rational decisions have their place when creating art, but artists exercise a sea-saw movement between reason and working blind for periods of time.
Intuitive thinking is a form of channeling material from a collective source. At least, that is the position of the great psychologist Carl Jung, and I agree; artists tap into sources beyond personal information or rational models.
The Inside and Outside
In all works of art, there is a ratio between the external world of appearances, and the inner world of experience. This mono print with mixed media that I made fifteen years ago, is called, “Duplicity,” and the visual content has more to do with an inner state than the outer appearance of something. By contrast, see my self-portraits below.
I relied heavily on what I saw external to myself in the portraits below. But even in these images, based on my outer appearance, an inner dimension of my identity is evident.
Creativity is a form of growth. Integrating what is known outside of oneself with what is known inside of oneself, is the very nature of growth. Integration is the key term because each dimension is a reflection of the other. Expanding one’s knowledge base of the outside world is useless unless there is a shift within one’s inner landscape. All of the arts are a vehicle for this kind of understanding.
This does not mean an artist instantly understands his own work or anyone else’s. The examples below, of small compositions, are not instances where I immediately understood what my unconscious was dictating. They remain as mysterious as the external events of my life have often been. Yet I know, to understand one dimension is to understand the other.
Intuitive Compostions
These images had no object behind their execution beyond a form of reflection. They had nothing to do with any conscious intent of my own.
The images emerged under my hand as I switched between conscious control and movements made without thinking. What results from this method is always a surprise, but never random. Their meaning may never be known, or upon reflection, I may decode their symbols. The ultimate meaning is always more profound than any rational explanation can provide, and can only be reached through metaphor.
Art as Decoration
Art Based on Historical Models
