Ekphrasis

Art is the epitome of human existence.

In a world where God is dead and Culture replaces Scripture, art is what we turn to in times of need. Toils and snares.

Tales of solace and reassurance are weaved through the writer’s pen and the artist’s brush.

Reassurance that yes, the world is tough, and life sucks, and really deep down, everybody is five minutes away from falling apart. Telling us, with grace and respect, that nobody really cares about the way we mispronounced that word or did something potentially embarrassing.

And that’s okay.

The human experience is complicated. It’s a tangled mess of emotions and self discovery. And in a world where nothing feels right, art is there as our guide.

Every human being has an insatiable need to create, to express.

We see ourselves in the cave paintings of Lascaux that emulate a toddler’s drawings in bouts of self discovery as they paint and outline over their hands. We see our need for acceptance in Michelangelo’s The Creation, our capability to forgive in The Last Supper.

Art, put simply, is a reflection unto ourselves and into our deepest selves; in whose depths we see the broken and the hurt, the healed, and specks of paint — the sheer beauty and ugliness of it all.

We are but stardust, given one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and art is the thread that binds us all. Through our collective histories, we stand united.

Which is why we respond to art. Why songs make us feel the world is ours and words convince us to find beauty in the mundane. Blurring the lines between poetry and prayer, we let down our guards and surrender to the tenderness of it all.

We live to feel. We live to create.

The paragon of human existence.

art is everything