We have not yet seen the best artwork nor heard the best piece of music. We never will because it was never meant for public consumption. 

Years ago, whilst I was studying visual communications, a fellow student and friend told me about her deep anxiety and it still resounds in my memory. She feared that, no matter how long she lived, she would never read the best book or hear the best piece of music, because there will never be enough time. She didn’t mean it generally, she meant the best book and song for her.

It is quite a profound thought, the more you consider it or at least it was for me. She was (is) probably right and what is sadder is the fact that, statistically, her fear is based on a good probability. But, I would argue, something important is missing in this perspective.

I consider art one of the things which really differentiates us from any other creature on this planet. The ability to self-express in a symbolic language is an attempt to understand ourselves, our surroundings and to communicate those thoughts and emotions to others. Art is profoundly human, less so than the ability and proclivity to share. Here is where I find fault in the logic of the artistic FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) anxiety.

If you have ever drawn on your own, played an instrument to an audience of only yourself or just wrote lines you never intended to show anyone, you will know of the feeling I’m trying to articulate. Sometimes those artistic urges of self-expression are not intended to be shared. Sometimes those feelings are more of an accumulation of pent up emotions, frustrations, cluttered thoughts and indescribable sensations that are released through a medium which allows the cerebral ejaculation to happen. Quality doesn’t matter in those instances, neither do regulations and guidelines which are usually attached to artistic practices. Gone are the necessities for aestheticism, structure, form, stories or messages. Yes, you could argue that artworks don’t need to follow those “rules” anyway, if they are shown to the world or not, but if it is done in a public forum, that act of deliberate rebellion to established structures becomes a statement. To the world of the self-expressing artist, who is only performing for themselves, there is no such statement. There are no statements to be made because the act itself is what matters only.

In that space of pure expression, unburdened by expectation, structure or quality, I believe the best art is born. The purest, most potent form of expression, with no desire to impress, bedazzle or ascertain, just to be, to release those inner turmoils, feeling or thoughts. It is art for you, just you and only you.

Why is the woman in the drawing drawn as a sketch, why are the stormy clouds so detailed and humongous?

The woman is her own creation. Basic lines and basic form, to symbolise a person creating themselves whilst they create. The clouds are the turmoil, that inner feeling and thought which releases itself only through an artistic form. Al which is pent up, held back or unresolved is projected through in that moment…when no one is watching, no one is listening and no one is judging.

We have not yet seen the best artwork nor heard the best piece of music. We never will because it was never meant for public consumption. 

This piece took more than 65 hours to complete, an absolute monster of concetration and tenacity. I’m very happy with the final result though and very proud. Let me know what you think.

If you are interested in a print, click the button below, otherwise thank you for reading.