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Have you ever been so captured by a work of art that it literally stirred your emotions inside, to the point that you felt as though you were inside the artwork itself? As Thomas Hensel of Invisible Armor states, "At the end of the nineteenth century, the German aestheticians coined a term Einfuhlungsvermoge to describe the process of a person projecting himself or herself into a work of art and having an emotional response. Einfuhlung, the root of this rather lengthy German word, literally means 'feeling into.'" If you can relate to this, then you have what I call a "sensitive soul." Sensitive souls are ones who have an acutely aware sense of their environments, and thus are affected by it in an intense way. To observe art with this awareness is to really open your heart and your soul, and understand the meaning and message behind the artwork. Often when I look at artwork, I sense the feelings and emotions of the images in the work. It creates a swelling inside my heart and touches me in a place that is secret and distant to others. When viewing art, it is wonderful to allow the piece to capture and embrace you, and take you to a place that can give you the experience of being in the image itself. In this essay, I have chosen to focus on art and the powerful effects it has on people, based on the fact that art is everywhere we go. It is a language that effects us consciously and many times subconsciously. It can dramatically change our lives. Art is everywhere we look -- even within nature, in rainbows and thunderstorms. Even the the stars in the night sky, whose beauty we often take for granted, affect us artistically and subconsciously. I am always interested in exploring ways in which art stimulates healing. I have interviewed artists to understand how they are effected in positive and negative ways by the art that they create. From my research, I learned that the process of creating art can evoke feelings within an artist that can be frightening or enormously positive: it draws upon many subconscious fears, wishes, and desires. In addition, art can take on a life of its own. It can speak to many different individuals in a myriad of ways. So ultimately the artist doesn't always have control over what the artwork means or says to viewers. Our lives are filled with impressions. Art is an impression that an artist creates to get his or her message across about a topic, issue, or idea. Artwork is also a reflection of inner feelings. Each individual projects her or his own inner feelings onto the artwork, and that is why not everyone interprets or perceives artistic meanings in the same way. Life would not be the same without the inspiration and creative symbolism that art presents to us. We are all artists in our own way, and we create our lives in a similar fashion that artists create paintings. Every decision and action in life is like a stroke of color on a canvas which ultimately creates the great painting of our lives. Art is an expression of the creative essence that comes from deep within us all.  |
