To me spirituality is discovering your true self, being accepting of the transformations that you and the world go through. This can be with the help of religion or not whichever makes more sense for the individual. So when I watched the movie I thought it was very interesting how each of them expressed their spirituality. I am going to focus on two of the four artists, John Feodorov and Shahzia Sikander because I find that they come from religious backgrounds but have two different views on it. John Feodorov is of Navajo decent so his work has to deal with the spirituality of the Navajo tribe. But he is not serious when it comes to it, he almost makes fun of it. When he talks about the totem bears he sells and that he makes them not enhance peoples spirituality but almost to mock it because he rigs the game. I think he has found his spirituality in other forms, because when he talks about painting he says that it is a struggle and he hates it but at the same time loves the struggle itself. So I think that his spirituality comes out in that struggle and what he puts on the paper is his true self, not the totem bears that he makes.
Next is Shahzia Sikander, she grew up Hindu in Pakistan, a primarily large muslim country. And her spirituality comes from her religious upbringing, the detail that both her miniature paintings have as well as her large paintings shows that she doesn’t want to mess up and portray the religion badly. She finds peace in the fact that everything has to be perfect, and in that peace she is able to meditate and therefore find her spirituality. Spirituality comes from within so sometimes it is hard to see it with someone but I believe that an artists spirituality comes out when the paint or draw or write because in the struggle or in the detail, the true artist comes out.
Great post! I found your ideas to be very unique from many of the other posts I read, and of those that I conceived. In Feodorov’s art, I would agree that it is the struggle that reveals the true aesthetic qualities of his art (Sollins et al., 2003). He finds his spirituality through this endeavor, which I think is what religion is often centered upon. Rather than reaching the most spiritual point in one’s life, the end-all-be-all, it is the journey that really tests true spirituality and inspires people. I think this also carries over into Sikander’s work, where she is constantly striving to represent her religion accurately and immaculately. Sikander has been brought up with great religious influence, reflecting on the journey, rather than the destination. Faith is often paired with fear – not in a negative way, but rather in an admirable way. Through this fear of portraying her religion inaccurately, Sikander finds her spirituality.
Sollins, S., Dowling, S., tatge, C., Shaffer, D., Ortega, E.L.M., Atlas, C., Anderson, L., PBS Home Video. (2003). Art 21: Art in the twenty-first century. United States: Art21, Inc.
Great ideas! I thought of some of the same ideas myself but wrote mostly about how 21st century art was more about transforming traditions passed on throughout generations. Feodorov’s art was a little on the sarcastic side, but at the same time his art produced through painting showed his true colors. It was almost as if he had to make fun of his traditions in his exhibits to justify his more serious paintings.
You mentioned, “She finds peace in the fact that everything has to be perfect, and in that peace she is able to meditate and therefore find her spirituality” in your excerpt about Shahzia Sikander. Also mentioned was that she didn’t want others to misconstrue her religious upbringing. In the video, Sikander spoke a lot about how people judge her religion and how her religion has very segregated views towards women. Through her miniature paintings, mainly on the Hindu goddess, she tends to leave the face blank for the reasoning not to impose the ideals normally put on the goddess in other works. Do you feel that through her art, she has had success in eliminating the judgement behind women of her race/religion?