Who Says, Stay Centered?

January 23, 2025  •  Leave a Comment

   Artists Are Trained to Be Off-Center

Many people say, "Get in formation!" But artists are trained to go their own way. While following cultural dictates may have its advantages at times, the artist's path often leads somewhere off-center, exploring uncharted territories.

As I paint, I try to approach each dilemma or problem as though I were blind—not in darkness, but blind to all possibilities. In a sense, artists are all blind—blind to conventions, to limits, and to expectations. Being "blind" allows us to look beyond what is immediately visible, to trust our inner vision rather than relying on what we’ve been taught to see. It’s not about being unaware, but about suspending judgment and embracing the unknown. I challenge myself to see things with fresh eyes, unaffected by preconceived notions.

For example, take my painting "Realto Rainbow" in the Dreamscape Gallery. The colors appear off-center, as if they’re soaring out of the frame, suggesting movement, change, and fluidity. There's no strict formation because the painting, like the artist, is forging its own path.

I wasn’t blind in the traditional sense while creating this painting, of course. My eyes were wide open, but in a way, I closed them to everything I thought I knew. I followed my own feelings, diving into an abyss of the unknown—what some may call emotion. What emotion, exactly? The emotion of yellow, aqua, gold, and my own blackness. An area void of light, yes—it’s dark, but within this darkness, I found a moment of temporary escape.

In that moment, I realized that nothing is real except for the colors in the rainbow of my painting. These colors won’t fade away like the rainbows we chase after when the rain stops. They are permanent, existing only within this space, untouched by time or weather.

The blind path is not one of ignorance but of discovery. Artists are blind in the sense that they have to venture into the unknown with each new piece. We can't always see where our work will take us. But that's the beauty of it—we let go of certainty and trust in the process. We are led not by what we see, but by what we feel, and that is where true creation begins.

 

 


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