Objectives:
• Become familiar with was in which spirituality influences artists
• Discuss the differences between spirituality and religion
• Examine spirituality as a generative force and a well spring for creativity
In the video Art in the 21st Century, my favorite spiritual artist was Ann Hamilton. Her medium of textiles is something of interest to me. While I am not a very good seamstress, I am passionate about style, fabric, and clothing as art. She connects writing and textiles in an interesting way, stating that the threads of the fabric are like the continuous line of a story. I like to take this relationship one step further by stating that the look of a textile or of a work of fashion tells a related story. Rachel Zoe, a Los Angles based fashion designer, once said, “Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak”. This often includes a deeper analysis beyond noting that someone wearing athletic shorts might play basketball. The complied aesthetic of the clothing tells a story about the person.
Grey (2001) discusses how an artists eye sees the outer beauty, the symbolic beauty, and the relationship between the two stating, “The artist’s three eyes of knowing are inspired by the radiant spiritual beauty of the subject, fascinated by the subject’s harmonic structure” (74). This idea relates to Hamilton’s use of textiles and clothing in the way they have practical beauty, symbolic beauty, and an interaction between the two.
Reflection:
My connection to the textiles of Ann Hamilton allowed me to better engage with the spiritual influences that affect an artist. The most significant take-away from this lesson was that the artist’s engagement with his/her own work is what defines spirituality. This is also what differentiates spirituality from religion because instead of worshipping a higher power, the artist has a connection with the work that transcends the physical world. This is exemplified by Grey, stating, “When an artist encounters an artistic subject, love opens all his or her eyes. There is a rush of aesthetic pleasure, and something clicks simultaneously on every level. The artists spiritual eye recognizes the subject as a special aspect of the absolute. The holy presence of the subject’s unique beauty or claritas, or radiance.
Learning Goals:
In the future I hope to incorporate my own spirituality into my artwork. I have been painting for around eight years and I find that it gives me the same relaxation that yoga does. This is because both provide me with a spiritual experience that is unlike other hobbies of mine. I am very interested in producing an artwork, in acrylic paint, that reflects and expresses what spirituality means to me based on my definition in this assignment. I want to see how a spiritual connection could influence my art and allow me to be creative in a new way.
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