On Sunday evening just over a week ago, we had an Art Night at my church. I loved seeing the paintings and sketches, listening to songs and poems and fiction, and watching the artists speak passionately about their talents and passions that mean so much to them. And it got me thinking about pain and art.
One of the artists was explaining her (chalk, I think it was) drawing of a mother cuddling a newborn... in the painting it looks as if she is whispering her baby girl to sleep. She explained that the art was done at the request of a friend whose baby was born sleeping.
When she said "born sleeping," my stomach gave a momentary lurch; I had never heard the euphemism before but could guess what it meant. She went on to give more details about the piece, and someone asked, "Was the baby okay?"
"No." The artist spoke quickly. "She was not okay."
I started thinking about why the artist's friend wanted the drawing, exactly. Surely not just to remember what must have been one of the most painful days of her life, which could have been done with a photograph. It wasn't necessarily to express herself because she wasn't the one painting it. But she wanted a piece of art about it.
And then I realized how many of the other pieces of art dealt with pain, with the times in our lives that are "not okay." One person sang a song she had written about her struggle to deal with her own shortcomings. Another read a poem expressing the shame and sadness she felt after speaking harshly to her son. Another shared an excerpt from her novel manuscript, a story (based in her own life) about two sisters with a rough past.
So I started wondering to myself why so much of art deals with pain. It deals with hurt and ugliness and experiences people would rather forget. Artists are driven to create pieces based in wounds, and even those who don't express themselves artistically often desire to see their pain reflected in pieces of art. When people could turn to God or therapy or talk it out or walk away and forget it, why do so many of us have the impulse to create or see something created that has to do with our bad experience? Why does art offer more healing of our torments and afflictions than simple understanding? It's more than just expression... if that was the case we could just (prose) write or talk it out.
I have some ideas about why this is, but I was just curious what any readers out there think, and I wanted to get your ideas to help me reconsider and process mine. What connects art and pain? Why are we driven to create about things that are not okay?
Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I'd still love to hear any thoughts you have about it... I'll post my own thoughts later on.
Although I haven't read it yet, Benjamin talks of C.S. Lewis' popular quote in The Problem of Pain: "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." It's something that has really stayed in my mind when thinking of pain and hardship.
ReplyDeleteI think this idea could also apply to art. There is no doubt that we can create art out of our pleasures but perhaps the inspiration to create is much more intense in our pain. Not necessarily out of a need to cope but out of an awareness of our gifts and a longing to know the Lord more. Not only are we a deaf world, ignoring the voice of God but I think we can sometimes be deaf artists ignoring the creative stirrings of God. My thoughts for today. :) Thanks for the post; I haven't thought much about this topic before.
I was disappointed that I missed the art night. I'm glad to hear it went well and that there was a variety of artists.
First, good questions, Mel! I pondered your questions as I put my little guys to bed. I thought about an acquaintance of mine who had a stillborn baby born around the time Solomon was born. Her husband had her baby’s footprints tattooed on his arm. A form of artwork. Artwork representing something beautiful and painful. I do not even know pain to this level.
ReplyDeleteAs I reflected on it this evening, though, I began to realize that often we are marked by, shaped by, and defined by our painful experiences. Having symbols of our pain does not necessarily mean we are owning a victim mentality; rather, we are expressing that a pain impacted us.
Art is a way of creating scars for the soul. For physical wounds that heal, we have physical scars. For wounds of our soul, art becomes the visible scar for a pain long after it’s been healed. Art becomes a representation of that pain. Even Jesus will have scars on his hands from the pain of his sacrifice for us. Scars are important because they allow us to tell the story of a pain that is a part of us, long after the pain has stopped hurting. We need art to create scars for our soul pains.
I can say that the times that God was closest to me, and I most strongly realized my need and love for HIm, were the times I lived through my deepest pains. Could remembering the pains also mean remembering how faithful God is? It's good to remember that He really does walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death. We would never choose to go there, but having been there before, we know He'll be there, too.
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