Marc Chagall
I think I vacillate between head and heart as I make - but the work is nothing if my heart doesn't guide it.
If my heart isn't in it, the work is flat, boring, mundane, pedestrian. If my heart has been guiding it, responding to it and driving it, then it literally, has heart, and is far more alive and active. My head oftentimes come in to critique; to run a checklist over it or to analyse the balance, the composition or some such thing.
I think Chagall's work confirms this explanation of his. So often his work is whimsical, unreal, dream-like and heart-felt. I am pretty sure his head was not involved in many of his most famous paintings.
I imagine it is the same for many artists or makers - if they become too logical, or driven by commercial demands, or force the thing into a shape or style that they think is what is needed, rather than create something from within and express it in their own unique and marvellous manner, the work can just be stifled and dormant.
Not everybody has the luxury of their heart's work equalling an income, but for life satisfaction there is no doubt heart-led work nourishes and feeds the soul.
"The Bride" - a goat playing a violin, a fish conducting an orchestra, a rooster, a church and a man adjusting her veil as they float above a city in deep blue sky... a lot of heart in here.
The artist and the technician at work, each having their say, a back and forth way of working with first one and then the other taking over, assessing and evaluating. I've learned so much about the creative process since I recognised those two components of it.
ReplyDeleteIt can be a wonderful dance back and forth can't it? Both parts add critical things; it seems to me it is always about getting the balance right...
Deleteto "heart" I would add "story" ... both in the making and in the viewing of all things creative
ReplyDeleteOh yes Liz, art made with heart and with a story is the best. I love art that is story telling and allows us to enter into the story with the work, to understand things and express thing sin different ways. Go well.
DeleteThe angle of "The Bride" has always intrigued me. Everything is tilted. And who is holding her bouquet? She isn't. This clearly does not come from the left side of the head, or brain, but dreams can come from the right side, which seems much more integrated with the body's sensual and emotional experiences. From this angle (haha) the heart and head are working together.
ReplyDeleteIt is all so very diagonal and tilted isn't it? Falling upwards. I imagine one could study this painting for years and keep seeing new things or gaining new insights. It is indeed very dream-like I think, letting the brain wander without too many rules. Head and heart working together can produce magic. Go well.
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