SALON 24: Like seeing the ocean and clouds from a hijacked airplane...
If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.
"Every genuine artistic intuition goes beyond what the senses perceive and reaching beneath reality's surface, strives to interpret its hidden mystery. The intuition itself springs from the depths of the human soul, where the desire to give meaning to one's own life is joined by the fleeting vision of beauty and of the mysterious unity of things. All artists experience the unbridgeable gap which lies between the work of their hands, however successful it may be, and the dazzling perfection of the beauty glimpsed in the ardour of the creative moment: what they manage to express in their painting, their sculpting, their creating is no more than a glimmer of the splendour which flared for a moment before the eyes of their spirit." - Pope John Paul II, Letter to Artists
Salon Guests: Our Creativity Salon, A Bear Named Hope, began in March 2006 with the goal of bringing creative people together to dialogue on any aspect of creativity, to help expand networks and bring attention to artists and writers of interest to us.
I am very proud to say, two years later, we have now held 23 salons with guest hosts and hostesses from a range of genres and disciplines and we are going strong! (I am also encouraged to see that more and more blogs have cropped up which use the blog forum as a place to dialogue, beyond the original ego-based use of "the blog". I think we have been pioneers in this!)
Our 24th Salon is hosted by artist and scientist Dr. Brett Weber (and his wonderful canine companion Sophie, alias Underdog). At this point I can't remember how I found Brett Weber on the Internet, but there he was and I was compelled to follow up and find out more! I hope you find his work and thoughts as provocative as do I, and that we can begin another of our amazing dialogues -- this time on the healing art of creativity, one of my personal favorite subjects.
The narrative for this Salon consists of excerpts from Brett Weber's thoughts on "the healing art of creativity" (I love the way he moved those words around!). You are invited to browse his thoughts and then add your own responses, questions, stories in the Comments section. Dr. Weber will be on hand over the next two weeks (February 8 - 22) to dialogue with you at the Salon. There are also links to his website and a cause near and dear to his heart.
Thank you for visiting! --Green Phoenix Productions
From Dr. Brett Weber...
John Paul II's beautiful words speak to a universal human experience we share in when we create. I do not mention the word "Healing" in my artist statement, but the notion that art and creativity can be used in the healing process is not a new idea. Certainly, there are many examples where a passion for creativity has helped people face and persevere against tremendous personal obstacles--especially in the arts and sciences.
Control and Release
Since my own diagnosis with Progressive-Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (MS), the freedom to express myself creatively through art has been physically beneficial and psychologically therapeutic. How so? First, creating artwork (or simply acting creatively) may not be a cure for Progressive-Relapsing MS, but it is an example of both a physical and mental process which helps me to maximize my own natural coping skills--while alleviating some of the negative emotional stress caused by the progression of my disease, stress which I believe increases symptoms and disability caused by my form of MS.
Whether a person suffers from a chronic illness like MS or not, we each do our best to overcome unhealthy stress and we each adapt to change and adversity. Our sense of self-worth is closely associated with our apparent ability to control change within our lives. When negative changes take place and are beyond our control (such is the case with MS), our need for control escalates...
The entire process of creating and then naming my paintings provides me with a very satisfying physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual release. What's more, because I approach my artwork with no expectations of good or bad, right or wrong, correct or incorrect, much as a young child first approaches art, I experience very little of the stress and anxiety that is often associated with the creative process...
Whether a person suffers from a chronic illness like MS or not, we each do our best to overcome unhealthy stress and we each adapt to change and adversity. Our sense of self-worth is closely associated with our apparent ability to control change within our lives. When negative changes take place and are beyond our control (such is the case with MS), our need for control escalates...
The entire process of creating and then naming my paintings provides me with a very satisfying physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual release. What's more, because I approach my artwork with no expectations of good or bad, right or wrong, correct or incorrect, much as a young child first approaches art, I experience very little of the stress and anxiety that is often associated with the creative process...
Talking in Our Sleep
You may have noticed that I only work on square canvases. This is because while I am painting I do not consider the final orientation of the work. I paint freely and often turn and spin the canvas in different directions and then again when I am interpreting the final abstraction. Only after I have given the painting (and digital art) a name do they receive their final correct orientation.
I call the process "Wakeful Dreaming" because much like the early Freudian and Jungian psychologists who first attempted to understand their patients' dreams using various techniques, I attempt to understand my paintings (and digital art) by giving them each a specific name which usually comes to me upon reading a famous (or not so famous) quotation, or idea. In this way the process of freely creating abstract imagery that I reflect on and finally name embodies an ongoing conversation that I have with myself...
You may have noticed that I only work on square canvases. This is because while I am painting I do not consider the final orientation of the work. I paint freely and often turn and spin the canvas in different directions and then again when I am interpreting the final abstraction. Only after I have given the painting (and digital art) a name do they receive their final correct orientation.
I call the process "Wakeful Dreaming" because much like the early Freudian and Jungian psychologists who first attempted to understand their patients' dreams using various techniques, I attempt to understand my paintings (and digital art) by giving them each a specific name which usually comes to me upon reading a famous (or not so famous) quotation, or idea. In this way the process of freely creating abstract imagery that I reflect on and finally name embodies an ongoing conversation that I have with myself...
Listening...
My artwork is about bringing unity to myself. It is about listening to instead of shouting at reality. It is also about triggering my mind's unconscious thought processes toward healing--by paying attention to and making sense of the normally silent, repressed and often time distant elements within myself. Because I am also trained as a neuroscientist and believe that the mind plays a role in healing the body, I am approaching my art as an experiment. It begs the question do we have more control over our health than we appreciate? And if so, how might a person harness that control? Perhaps, by letting go of control entirely--the paradox of combating chronic stress and depression?
My artwork is about bringing unity to myself. It is about listening to instead of shouting at reality. It is also about triggering my mind's unconscious thought processes toward healing--by paying attention to and making sense of the normally silent, repressed and often time distant elements within myself. Because I am also trained as a neuroscientist and believe that the mind plays a role in healing the body, I am approaching my art as an experiment. It begs the question do we have more control over our health than we appreciate? And if so, how might a person harness that control? Perhaps, by letting go of control entirely--the paradox of combating chronic stress and depression?
Escaping to an Answer...
I understand the painting "Escape" [see tryptich above, info below*] as a conversation I continue to have with the unconscious part of myself through wakeful dreams--it is about finding an escape from the disease MS. Much like seeing the ocean and clouds from a hijacked airplane, "Escape" addresses the questions that I believe most people with MS ask themselves "How can I escape?" "Why is my body attacking itself?" "Does some part of me know the answer?" and "Can I regain control?" I named this painting "Escape" after a quotation by Albert Einstein (1879-1955), the renowned physicist and man of the 20th Century.
I understand the painting "Escape" [see tryptich above, info below*] as a conversation I continue to have with the unconscious part of myself through wakeful dreams--it is about finding an escape from the disease MS. Much like seeing the ocean and clouds from a hijacked airplane, "Escape" addresses the questions that I believe most people with MS ask themselves "How can I escape?" "Why is my body attacking itself?" "Does some part of me know the answer?" and "Can I regain control?" I named this painting "Escape" after a quotation by Albert Einstein (1879-1955), the renowned physicist and man of the 20th Century.
"One of the strongest motives
that lead men to art and science
is escape from everyday life
with its painful crudity
and hopeless dreariness,
from the fetters
of one's own ever shifting desires."
-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
A Way to the Dream...
Art can be stimulating to both eye and mind, and can provide us with an opportunity to heal ourselves and others...
...Unfortunately, many people with MS lose their ability to do the very fine hand-eye coordination required in representational art and may stop doing art in frustration, but abstract art does not place as high a barrier to disabled people with limited hand-eye motor control and provides the same therapeutic benefits...
...Although MS has affected my hands to some degree, I choose to do abstract art not because of my reduced dexterity, but because abstraction is the only style of art that can be executed without planned intent, and therefore a way for me to dream...
Dr. Brett Weber (c) 2008
Art can be stimulating to both eye and mind, and can provide us with an opportunity to heal ourselves and others...
...Unfortunately, many people with MS lose their ability to do the very fine hand-eye coordination required in representational art and may stop doing art in frustration, but abstract art does not place as high a barrier to disabled people with limited hand-eye motor control and provides the same therapeutic benefits...
...Although MS has affected my hands to some degree, I choose to do abstract art not because of my reduced dexterity, but because abstraction is the only style of art that can be executed without planned intent, and therefore a way for me to dream...
Dr. Brett Weber (c) 2008
Escape
We can escape the commonplace
only by manipulating it,controlling it,
thrusting it into our dreams,
or surrendering it
*(Information on "Escape":
Oil & Acrylic on Canvas 3.75' x 11.25' end to end;
subtitles: "Dreams", "Report", "Disease")
ABOUT OUR HOST:
A Moravian College alumnus, Dr. Weber received his B.S. in Biology and his B.A. in Art in 1991. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Temple University in 1997, and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) the week before completing his doctorate.Since then, he has devoted his life toward understanding MS through science and art. Dr. Weber leads members of his "Broken Art" class to better wellness at the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network (http://www.goodshepherdrehab.org/ or http://www.goodshepherdrehab.org/interactive/index.asp) in Allentown, Pennsylvania. "Members of our class, regardless of their experience, are considered to be artists here, not simply a group of people with MS." By inspiring bold and creative artwork, http://www.brokenartgallery.com/ aims to inspire equivalent bold and creative scientific research in seeking a possible CURE for multiple sclerosis (MS) and every disease and disability on the face of the planet. Email: Art@BrokenArtGallery.com
A Moravian College alumnus, Dr. Weber received his B.S. in Biology and his B.A. in Art in 1991. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Temple University in 1997, and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) the week before completing his doctorate.Since then, he has devoted his life toward understanding MS through science and art. Dr. Weber leads members of his "Broken Art" class to better wellness at the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network (http://www.goodshepherdrehab.org/ or http://www.goodshepherdrehab.org/interactive/index.asp) in Allentown, Pennsylvania. "Members of our class, regardless of their experience, are considered to be artists here, not simply a group of people with MS." By inspiring bold and creative artwork, http://www.brokenartgallery.com/ aims to inspire equivalent bold and creative scientific research in seeking a possible CURE for multiple sclerosis (MS) and every disease and disability on the face of the planet. Email: Art@BrokenArtGallery.com
Dr. Weber has displayed artwork in galleries located in: SOHO, Manhattan, NYC, NY; Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown & Bethlehem, PA; Denver, CO, USA & Hania, Crete, Greece.
If you would like to purchase prints or make a donation...
Dr. Weber does sell prints on his website. When I asked -- if anyone wishes to contribute to his work as a result of this salon -- he said that contributions would be welcome to the regular weekly "art done for wellness group", the above-mentioned "Broken Art Creativity Class" at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown, PA.
DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND LOVE WHAT YOU DO!
Michelle Miller Allen
PS If you would like to view Pope John Paul II's entire Letter to Artists, here is the link. We will focus an upcoming salon on this letter:
OUR SALON LINKS MESSAGE BOARD:
http://www.brokenartgallery.com/Handout_ONE_&_Show_Information.pdf
posted by Spiritbear @ 1:50 PM
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