Pictorialzation in art-making:
All art-making at it’s outset is ‘abstract’, that is: non-representational. For the beginning is always a point and then a line; and a point and a line have no reference outside of themselves. According to the quality and strength and sensitivity of the imagination of the artist, he almost immediately begins to ‘feel’ the suggestion of image, of representation, in his work. If his goal is to ‘copy from nature’, that is, to represent a specific image before his eyes, or even from his imagination, he will reject the suggestion of other representations that emerge spontaneously from his creative process; he will, in fact, reject the representational image that emerges as undesirable until he reaches the perfection of representation that he desires.
However if the artist is not directed toward achieving a certain representation and likeness, rather is concerned with what is being revealed about his inner self as he creates, he will not reject the representations that spontaneously appear through his ‘abstract’ creating, rather embrace them as clues to his inner occupations, the images that are in his subconscious, that color his actions. Thus, from this, can emerge pictoralizations that correspond more deeply to the artist’s true inner self.
Yet there is a deeper level; for the suggested representations which spontaneously emerge in the process of creation are surely grounded in the imagination; and, although they reveal an inner chamber of the self, they, nevertheless, do not transcend the imagination, which is certainly not the innermost chamber of one’s being. For the holy soul of the person, which completely transcends the imagination, and is at one with the Divine intelligence which informs the spiritually aware person, has it’s own form, which can also be expressed in art-making; namely, the forms of the letters of the Holy alphabet.
The imagination and it’s suggested imagery is a path to find the active forms of his soul in striving to elevate itself and join with it’s Source, Blessed is He.
featured image:
והראנו בבנינו
(מתפילת מוסף של ג’ רגלים)
And show us it’s (the Bais HaMikdash’s) rebuilding
(from the Mussaf prayer of the three festivals)
Oil on canvas
ציור שמן על קנבס
תשע”ד
80 x 90 cm.