Creative expression is the most beautiful form of art.
It is art that tells a story. Our story. And expresses what’s within.
It is raw. It is vulnerable. It is powerful. It is authentic. It is transformational.
It constantly surrounds us:
It can be an abstract splat of paint on canvas, or a song with lyrics pulled from the heart
It can be a graceful dance, or a detailed realism portrait on paper
It can be a lengthy poem, or a painted pottery piece.
And it can be created by anyone.
We all view the world through a different lens, through difficult experiences that shape our beliefs, our relationships, the way we think, and the way we interact with the world
The things that help to make up our current identities.
Every artwork crafted by the artist’s hands holds a fraction of their story, a vulnerable piece of themselves they chose to share.
Every viewer of the artwork sees this fraction of the artist’s life through their own lens,
where they identify and connect where they can find themselves in the piece.
The creation that comes out of the artist’s honest feelings brings healing to the person experiencing it.
Creative expression allows one to reach into the depths of their innermost being and pour it out visually in a way that turns the tragedies of life into visual beauty.
Visual beauty seen through shapes, lines, movements, textures, colors, word choice, and melodies.
Showing visual beauty in the suffering, beauty in the sorrow, beauty in the depression, beauty in the insecurity, beauty in the anxiety, beauty in the numbness, beauty in the sickness, beauty in the grief.
The beauty that we are all human, the beauty that we all experience these things as we try our best to navigate this confusing, challenging life.
The beauty of evoking the hard emotions many of us keep hidden away,
Giving hope that these hidden feelings can be heard through the expressive piece.
Giving hope that maybe, we are not alone in this mess as we connect through the sorrow in the visual expression
Giving hope that a fraction of our stories can be shared in a timeless relic,
living past ourselves and reaching the one who needs it when they cross its path.
The meaning shifting from one beholder to the next.
Appealing to the ones who live in the depths and the ones who live in the shallow.
The ones just passing by, or the ones searching.
Helping us to appreciate the beauty that is all around us,
helping us to look at ourselves a little deeper.
To inspire self-discovery.
To pull out the emotions we are burying inside of us.
To connect us through empathy.
To say, it’s okay, we are all human.
Creative expression is the most beautiful form of art.
Written by Olivia Threlfall