Deep sea diving into the human experience

I call myself an artist, proudly. But it took me a long time to get there. I had to redefine this loaded word ‘artist’ for myself, I had to wade through the muck of comparing myself to other artists, and I had to find how I want to make art amongst the default beliefs about how art should be made. It led me down a rabbit hole: what’s an artist anyways? And what even is art? Here's what recently bubbled up from the depths of my subconscious:

Artists are observers and experiencers of life. We go deep sea diving into the human condition.

To me, the word artist feels like being put in a box of preconceived ideas. Yet in my experience, the very nature of creativity can’t be boxed up. It finds clever ways to escape, and often ignore, those box limitations. In the process, it dreams up something totally new. 

I find the trick is not to focus on being ‘good at art’. Yes, there’s a level of technical ability to wielding a medium and that is interesting to develop, such as painting an apple that looks so good you could eat it. (This may be the focus for some artists, which is totally cool, by the way.) But I believe that the real work is getting so intimately involved with the ‘subject’ or an experience that I can fully take it in. I study it until I can imagine or embody what it’s like to be that thing (the way an actor embodies a character). And from this magical place, making art is attempting to translate my experience by articulating it through a medium. And I would even argue, the apple artist is doing this by being in relationship with reality; light, shape and texture.

In this way, the artist tells, or rather reminds, others of something they know, too. Something that’s intangible but felt deeply. And that communication of the art initiates deeper noticing or understanding in the other person. This feels like recognition; a hard-to-explain experience is reflected back at the observer and they see themselves in something they may have thought they were alone in. In my experience, this is relieving, satisfying, or healing depending on the circumstance. It takes what feels individual and private to a place that can be shared as a collective. 

So in its simplest form, art can be… 

• One of those beautiful conversation moments where you feel like you've been able to accurately describe how you feel about something.

• Or, taking a feeling and embodying it - doodling ‘to’ that feeling, dancing it out, or using the body to tell a story that involves acting it out.

• Or, choosing the perfect song for the moment, to resonate with your emotions or share a feeling with someone else.

With that, I hope you feel emboldened to call yourself an artist today. Better yet, I hope you make some art in a simple and everyday way. Maybe you’re already doing it, naturally.

What’s a subject or experience you’ve explored deeply, like an artist, lately?

If you want to practice deep sea diving into your experience and translating that into art alongside a community doing the same groovy work, join me at this seasonal Hearth Edition of The Collage Portal in Vancouver at Yoga Circle on Sunday, November 22.

The Collage Portal is a creative workshop where you will make your own oracle cards using magazines, paper, and mixed media. Through guided prompts and reflection, you will gain fresh perspective, connect with others, and leave with a meaningful keepsake. This edition invites you to embrace the transition to the darker half of the year — creating space for slowness, listening inward, and the wisdom of cycles ending.

You can read more and register here.