Cultivating experiences of awe
Close up of my sculpture for my fine art image, Quickening (2023)
With the start of the new year brings more musings from me about rest and pursuing the experience of awe.
DISCLOSURE — When you click on my affiliate links, I may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com links in this post. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of my website, the technology that goes into my courses, and my art. Want to know more? Read my AMAZON AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER.
Today I want to talk about the importance of cultivating an experience of awe.
I regularly tune into Instant Genius Podcast (which has turned into my favourite science podcast. The other day, I listened to an episode titled “How finding moments of awe can bolster your mental health” which encouraged listeners to pursue experiences of “awe” because it turns out that they’re great for our mental health. They make us smile. But I don’t need a podcast to tell me that because I’ve experienced it for myself. Lately, every time I look more closely at my natural surroundings, I’m in awe. What I felt when I first had my babies. When my son asks me why something is the way it is. The first time I really really looked at a flower. Hearing a live orchestra play music for 2 hours straight. Closely examining every stroke and detail of a Dali painting.
Bird feathers collected on my walk home
The other day as I was walking home after dropping off my son at school, I saw a small feather floating in the air. Then another, and another. I picked them up and was amazed at their shape and their softness. As I kept walking, more feathers flew my way; some were directly on the snow in front of me, some, I had to chase. Like a child, I collected them to bring home to examine and to possess. To one day recreate in paper, perhaps. It would have been easy to just walk on, but then I would have missed that feeling of wonder.
Awe makes us reflect on our own existence and our place in this world. It makes us rethink what we know. It stirs our curiosity. If I’ve learned anything at all in my 40 years on this planet is to lean into my curiosity.
What’s amazing about being a working artist is that I have time to fully explore my curiosity through my art. (I know it’s a luxury to have mind-space for that. I certainly didn’t have the energy to do that when I was working in law.) Do I want to create art that fills people with wonder? Yes, I believe so. Is it doable? Maybe. How do I do it?
Sculpture-wise, making big ones or really small ones; as Martin Gayford says, scale can make one conscious of our location in time and space. Sculptures can also change the experience of our own bodies (per Antony Gormley). Image-wise? Controlling the lighting (mood), the focus (perspective), and space (pictures are preoccupied with how to represent space)…I still have some things to figure out. In fact, what I’ve been curious about these past months is the difference/interaction between images in paintings and photography, and 2-D and 3-D. More thinking to do.
I have an idea of working towards reinterpreting floral still lives (like this or this) from the past to explore what the floral arrangements might have looked like if they had been real, and to explore the limitations of painting/photography in fully expressing it. Through painting, an artist can express emotions and perspective in a way that photography cannot. Just think about how a brush stroke can express speed, thoughtfulness, carelessness, excitement, hesitation. On the other hand, photography can capture light and space in a way that our eyes cannot. The strength of sculpture is that it’s made to be experienced, while images are meant to be looked at. While I am not a conceptual artist, I do want to think more about why this line of thought interests me so much. Leaning in. I’ll keep collecting still life images in my Free Form board.
All this said, the next time you are walking outside, take some time to crouch down and check out what the ants are doing. Listen for bird calls or the rustling of leaves. Pick up a leaf and look at all the different colours on it. Touch the bark of a tree. Smell snow. I know it’ll put a smile on your face and make you wonder.