Art and Spirituality: To Satisfy the Hungry Eye
Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta
January 5, 2014
It could be said that each of our lives at the start of a
New Year is a blank canvas. As we heard in the Time for All Ages, we can be
open at this time of year to new experiences, new possibilities. A quote by the
Zen Buddhist teacher Shunryu Suzuki is worth sharing: "In the beginner’s mind,
there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few." Lynn Ungar, editor of the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s
Quest newsletter, says, “when we are experts at something, we know how it is
supposed to be done. We are ready to judge whether we, or anyone else, are
doing it the ‘right’ way. But with Beginner’s Mind there is the possibility
that the ‘right’ way could turn out to be entirely different than what the experts
had imagined.” (‘Resources for Living,’ Quest, Jan 2014, 7)
Grown-ups usually say they can’t paint or draw, they don’t
know the right way to do it…but our children have no such inhibitions!
I first began painting in the late 1970s when we lived in
England as a very young military family; I taught framing and crafts at the
base arts and crafts center. Then when we moved to San Antonio I decided I
wanted to work on a degree, and one of my classes was an art class. I was
really hoping to learn the ‘right’ way to paint, since I had been self-taught,
and I enjoyed the class. One day because our daughter Molly wasn’t in school I
took her with me to class; to my chagrin the instructor totally ignored my work
but obviously enjoyed seeing Molly paint!
Sometimes our creativity is stifled because we are too
concerned with being seen to know what we are doing…but the creative impulse
actually thrives on the experience of not knowing! The first stroke of the
paintbrush is a commitment, but not to what you’re ‘supposed’ to do. It’s a
commitment to opening yourself up to something new, to many possibilities –
including the possibility that actually you might not be really good at it, but
enjoying it anyhow – it’s what Suzuki describes as Beginner’s Mind, a state in
Buddhism that is considered creative and optimistic. Shoshin is the state of being open, of being without assumptions or
preconceptions.
Another concept in Buddhism that I associate with this
openness to creativity is the phrase, ‘heart and hand are one’. It comes from
Carol Ring, who reflects on beauty and the calligraphy of Chinese Buddhists in
the Spring 2013 issue of Parabola
magazine. Ring writes that the innermost secret of calligraphy is oneness,
which “like all secrets, has to be revealed. A revelation that both comes of
itself and takes years to attain. So often it is my disconnectedness that I
become aware of. So many efforts are necessary before this effortless unity
appears. For a moment, heart and hand unite and there is a brief taste of being
completely engaged: at one within myself and with the practice.” (Ring, "Shodo:
the Way of the Brush," Parabola,
Spring 2013, 65).
This must be what the artist Cezanne meant when he said, “A
minute in the world’s life passes! To paint it in its reality, and forget
everything for that! To become that minute, to be the sensitive plate…give the
image of what we see, forgetting everything that has appeared before our time.”
(John Berger, Ways of Seeing,1972, 31)
As with other opposites - body and spirit, being and doing,
center and extremity –we live our daily lives within these creative tensions.
“Heart moving the hand, spirit and body reunited and whole,” Ring says this
engagement is a “returning to original unity”.
And this is what, in a very different context, John
O’Donohue was talking about when he wrote the blessing we heard earlier, for
“the artist at the start of day” (from To Bless the Space Between Us) – the artist as a vessel for what wants to
ascend from silence, ‘the gift within you’ that is beyond imitation, ‘something
original…grow[ing] stronger in your heart.’ I love the image that he creates
with the phrase ‘to surprise the hungry eye’ and I want to explore it a bit
more in depth. Why do we feel the urge to create? Is it a real hunger that
drives artists to create something new out of the stillness?
Using the term to “surprise” the hungry eye is to make a
statement about the unpredictable impact of the visual image. The theologian William Lynch says, “the images that a
person perceives can carry a profound impact in a person’s life. But he then
goes on to argue that “People not only perceive, but they perceive according to
a pattern, a paradigm, an imagination or according to a faith.” (Gerald Bednar,
Faith as Imagination, 1996,
140).
So even though an artist may be open to the possibilities
of creativity, our reaction to art as observers is driven by how it conforms to
our paradigm or confounds it. It sounds strange to us now, but Edvard Munch’s artwork entitled The Scream, done in an early Expressionist style that portrayed
emotions through distorting form and color, caused such an uproar when it was
first exhibited that the Berlin exhibit of 1892 was closed. Munch, on the other
hand, was quoted as saying, “I want to paint pictures that will make people
take off their hats in awe, the way they do in church." (Munch, The
Scream, http://www.thecaveonline.com/APEH/scream.html)
I must say that when we were
hanging these beautiful pieces of art yesterday I stopped frequently in awe –
if I’d had on a hat maybe I would have taken it off!
It was then that I understood
what the writer and broadcaster John Berger means when he writes that “every
image embodies a way of seeing…the more imaginative the work, the more
profoundly it allows us to share the artist’s experience of the visible.” (Ways
of Seeing, 10)
So there are two different
perspectives in any piece of art, the way the artist sees it, and the way
another person sees it. And even within those perspectives, Berger reminds us
that we employ assumptions, or to use Lynch’s term, a paradigm, based on
beauty, truth, genius, status, and taste, to name a few cultural norms. We can
be awestruck, or we can be let down, even offended, by what we see – the
‘surprise’ for the hungry eye. People use the term ‘taste’, as in ‘it’s not my
taste in art’, but there is really so much more going on than that.
I come back again to the hunger
that is articulated by John O’Donohue, because we may have a spiritual hunger
that can be expressed or satisfied by the act of creating. And the creativity
of an artist can spark a spiritual connection in us.
The composer Aaron Copeland said
that
“a masterwork awakens in us
reactions of a spiritual order that are already in us, only waiting to be
aroused. When Beethoven’s music exhorts us to be noble, be compassionate be
strong, he awakens moral ideas that are already within us. His music cannot
persuade; it makes evident…A concert is not a sermon. It is a performance – a
reincarnation of a series of ideas implicit in the work of art.” (Bednar, 138)
And since we have called this
our month of art and spirituality, for those who need to know more about what
that means, I like the description by Veronica Brady: “Genuine spirituality,
like art, is open and dynamic...both are the hope of a world so badly in need
of transformation” (http://www.ru.org/81brady.html). She goes on to say, “Art reminds us that life is stranger, more
beautiful, demanding, joyous and painful than common sense knows. The
holy then, is mysterious. It underlies the vision of tragedy and, indeed,
of any good novel which gives us a glimpse into the mysteries of the human
condition. Far from being unworldly or abstract, this mystery exists in
the midst of our lives.”
We may hear during this month
about the way in which our artists seek to make meaning, or paint to express
the feelings or desires they have. And even when they know what it is they want
to see on the canvas, the resulting image still may surprise, delight, or
horrify them. There is something unleashed and mysterious that they cannot
control, sometimes a completely different image results…and this creative space
can be where they confront the transcendent and transforming power of art. The
artistic impulse creates something that escapes control, surprising the artist
whose hand is responsible for that very creation.
Henri Matisse said that
‘creativity takes courage’; I would suggest that the artist who accepts the
wild nature of her art, in the sense that it is untamed and unanswerable even
to her, paints as much with courage as with color. This courageous attitude is
expressed by artist Terry Lee Getz this way: “I will risk plumbing unknown
depths that release and fulfill my spirit, and I’ve arrived at a point in my
life, creative or otherwise, where the ‘unknown’ is my preferred orientation.”
(“Embracing the Unknown” in Siminaitis, Kaleidoscope, 2007, 126)
As I was writing this sermon the
other evening, our daughter Molly sent a message on Facebook, a quote from
Gilda Radner, that wonderful and much-missed comedian: “Life
is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best
of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.....Delicious Ambiguity.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson said that every artist was once an
amateur. Rather than use the common definition, which is someone who is not
very good at what they are doing, I go back to the root word, which is Latin
for ‘to love.’ An ‘amateur’ does something out of love and not for gain.
But amateurs as well as established professional artists
need to keep their creative juices flowing - love may not be enough! Writer and
artist Jill Jones identifies seven concepts that are at the heart of any
creative project (“Keeping Your Creative Spirit Alive” in Kaleidoscope 2007, 122-3), and I thought I would conclude my
message this morning by listing them for you. If this month of art and
spirituality has inspired you to try your hand at some kind of artistic
endeavor, then this list might be very handy.
First, Jones suggests that we find ‘religion’ by
establishing the habit of working regularly on the creative plane; if we
consistently, ‘religiously’ carve out designated time in our calendar and treat
it as ‘sacred time,’ we are more likely to go to that space and create.
Second, a way to start off the morning right might be with
some sort of ritual to situate ourselves in that creative space; Jones says
this can take many different forms, from reciting mantras, lighting candles, to
‘singing four songs in the shower’. The action we decide to take, she says, is
not as significant as the meaning we grant to it.
Third, talk back to your self-talk. Never mind the way
others can be judgmental, your own self-talk can be negative and even abusive,
so be proactive and think of ways to get rid of the trash-talk in your head,
even perhaps by writing down answers to your negative self-talk and practicing
them out loud.
‘Work with what you have’ is her 4th piece of
advice. We have limitations and some of them might be financial, so if we can’t
afford top-notch materials, then recycled materials from the kitchen can make
good art. But Jones says, “The more important elements needed in the
equation are passion, courage, focus, motivation, desire and follow-through. If
we think we have to wait until all the stars are aligned and all our ideal
conditions are met, we will never move any closer to our goals.” (123)
Fifth, begin again: if you have a day when things don’t go
well, it doesn’t mean all is lost – rather, there is another day to begin
again. Jones says, “Learn to work in the middle of things and not wait for
inspiration or a magical burst of energy. The muse will visit more often if you
are working on a regular basis.” (123)
The sixth piece of advice follows on from the fifth one,
and it is ‘do whatever it takes’. Keep moving forward and “stay open to
opportunities to learn about yourself and the world. Love your creative
expressions, and do whatever it takes to keep at it.” (123)
Finally, establish a supportive network. Jones says that we
need to find others who enjoy working together and learning, people who will be
positive influences and who will cheer you on in your creative endeavors. She says we need to weed out those negative people who
discourage you; who form, in the words of John O’Donohue, “the sticky web of
the personal with its hurt and its hauntings and fixed fortress corners.”
With these seven concepts, the artist can hope to maintain
a positive and creative approach. Come to think of it, just like the blank
canvas of life that we spoke about earlier, those seven points can also apply
to our lives. If we get into the habit, start the morning right, end negative
self-talk, work with what we have, have the courage to begin again and do
whatever it takes to move forward, supporting our creativity by establishing a
supportive network, then we too can create what O’Donohue calls ‘a rhythm not
yet heard’ – that rhythm that is our own life’s unique work of art.
May each of us find the courage to accept the mystery of
existence and the lack of control over our lives, and yet, in the face of it,
resolve to make the best of what we’ve been given… and as we reach to put the
brush to the blank canvas, may our possibilities continue to be many.
Blessed be, Amen.
Rev. Dr. Gaye Ortiz
1/5/2014
