In the process of every artist’s life, he or she must ultimately come to terms with his or her own self. When we create a world in our art, we do so by grasping the world around us. It’s why the artist is observant. He looks at things that others don’t notice and reflects it back to show the others what they were missing. Some skip this step entirely and go straight to the next, harder step which is to look within. When an artist is able to do both, he or she has stepped out of existence for a moment to depict, with clarity, the inner and outer truths of our lives.
Every artist must pass through both challenges. How accurate they can be at then displaying the result depends on their technical skills. But technical skills will not suffice unless the artist has revealed something of our human potential. Nobody would be pleased if, after all the buildup, the joke your friend has been telling you for the past hour has a lousy punchline. The artist must use their technical skills to reveal an unknown truth or to illuminate a known one. This is the artist’s struggle.
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