True art is based on faith in man’s intrinsic desire for truth, embedded deep in the person. His overt personality is not directed by this drive, nevertheless, this desire can be awakened, nurtured and brought to prominence. Art holds the possibility of awakening this buried desire for it can reach into the depths of one’s consciousness and being.
Many look to adorn their homes with artworks of restful, peaceful scenes or other pretty images in the thought that they will provide some small refuge and release from the toil and burden of their days. This is seemingly reasonable, but, in truth, the only true rest for a person’s tired soul is the rays of Divine light that come from a higher world. “Peaceful” or pleasant images of this world seem to offer some relief but in truth they only maintain a person within a prison of illusions and fantasies which are the source of his travail.
It is fitting to say that a person’s desire to find rest in these tranquil, undemanding images stems from his desire to remain in spiritual slumber, a desire which must be uprooted and supplanted with a hunger for true life.
Those who are awake to the nature of this world and of it’s illusionary seductions and persuasions, find water for their thirsty souls in any fragment of truth that can be revealed to them.
Art must offer the viewer an opportunity to grasp the contradictions of the illusionary world that is our home in this life, revealing the true beauty of the World of Truth which underlies the veneer of superficial beauty. It should offer proof to the viewer of the richness of the pursuit of true spiritual existence and its nearness and accessibility.