Project: Essay 1
![](https://sites.psu.edu/annaarsiriy/files/2017/10/Diagram1-1m6lupt.jpg)
One of the most general questions for an artist to hear is probably the question “What inspires you the most?”. The article on artvancouver.net claims that “the amount of influences that can affect the nature and creativity of an artist’s work is countless, and to pinpoint a true inspiration is difficult, to say the least” (artvancouver.net). In this essay, I will not talk about what inspires me as an artist. In fact, I want to emphasize the difference between influence and inspiration. This essay, however, is dedicated to the question of influence, and how it connects with the issue of creativity and originality in art.
The inspiration and influence for me are two different concepts. On one hand, inspiration does not always come from particular people or beautifully designed objects. For some people, inspiration comes from within, whereas some people look around them. For me, inspiration may come from an absolute randomness of organic things, including wood patterns, watercolor splatters, ocean waves, sun glares, wallpaper patterns, water spills, and so on. On the other hand, influence is a tricky question because some people assume that there is no such thing as influence in art. Agnes Martin, for example, stated that:
I don’t believe in influence myself. I don’t believe that anybody is influenced by anybody at any time. I think that we all live by inspiration, whether we pay attention to it or not. I suggest to the artists that you take every opportunity of being alone. (Barrett 136)
In other words, in order to be creative, an artist should not be influenced by anybody since art should be quite subjective and not dependent on anyone.
In my opinion, influence does take place in an art world. It does not take anyone’s creativity away. Often, someone’s art influences an artist unconsciously. We see things around us and we are inspired by them. But works of other artists, even if we are just looking at them without trying to imitate them, influence us in many ways. We consume new visual elements, learn new techniques, get acquainted with new styles and genres, make decision by judging and interpreting work, and thus we cognize the art world around us, which can’t be done through inspiration. Therefore, influence plays a big role in my personal realization of what I am and where I want to be as an artist.
My art tree is presented through the pyramid, which is a diagram-like metaphor meant to represent megalithic structure built as a royal tomb in Giza, ancient Egypt. That structure had a square base and sloping slides that meet precisely in one point at the top. Artists at the square base are the foundation of my knowledge. Artists located at four sliding slopes represent artists I became familiar with later in life (except for Van Gogh and Edward Munch). And these slides of artists converge into one point where I located myself as a result of their influence.
Square base in my diagram is the foundation of drawing/painting knowledge I was influenced by as a beginner artist. Four gigantic titans of my pyramid are the four basic art styles, such as Renaissance (primarily Italian), Naïve Art, Art Nouveau, and Surrealism. The artists presented at the base of my pyramid lived in different time periods, but all of them became unquestionable masters of their time. I am thankful to Renaissance painters and sculptors for the essential knowledge of perspective, basic mediums, painting techniques and many other things. For instance, I learned what chiaroscuro is through the paintings of Caravaggio. Now, I still like using dramatic chiaroscuro in some of my paintings. Art Nouveau and Naïve Art taught me that the paintings should not necessarily show a moral lesson or tell a story. I started looking at things in order to get inspiration out of them, rather than directly drawing them. And finally, once I became familiar with surrealists such as Dali and Picasso, I realized that our own interpretation of things is often way more valuable than working from a full or even partial observation.
The next important level of my pyramid is represented through the artists located at the four sloping slides. Branches of art such as Abstract Art, Expressionism, followed by Illustration and Graphic design influenced me the most during the last couple of years of my life. Some of the fundamental expressionist artists such as Van Gogh or Munch showed me a passionate desire to depict the fierce intensity of life in terms of wild brush techniques and unusual subject matters. Lindsay Rapp is a modern day female artist whom I became familiar with during the First Friday of September 2017 in Old City where she exhibited her marine-themed work. Even though for some people her work might seem too naïve, I instantly fell in love with a “genuine mother of pearl and layered painted mylar”, as she calls herself (lindsayrappgallery.com). What touched me the most is the harmony of the media she uses with the magical world of her interpretation – whether it’s an abstract painting, a mermaid, or a still life.
Vasily Kandinsky and Lyubov Popova opened something in me that was beyond my comprehension before. Things that seemed just as meaningless random set of lines, shapes, and colors all of a sudden became an idea. To draw something that did not have any literal subject matter was at least a brave decision for me. However, it opens up another important function of interrelationship with a spectator who can interpret the work the way he/she feels (see Intent vs Content) without looking for hidden clues.
And finally, all graphic design and illustration artists presented in my diagram are the modern day artists, whom I follow in Instagram or their personal blogs. I like following the life of artists who live in the same world and use the same tools I do. Besides, it certainly makes me broaden my spectrum of interest and skills. Some of them are more famous than the others. But all of them are the dynamic representation of today’s digital art culture, where I certainly find myself as an artist.
WORK CITED:
Barrett, Terry. Why Is That Art?: Aesthetics and Criticism of Contemporary Art. Oxford University Press. 2012
“What Inspires You?” Artvancouver.net, http://artvancouver.net/what-inspires-you-q-a-w-art-vancouver-artists/
“About the Artwork.” Lindsayrappgallery.com, https://lindsayrappgallery.com/pages/about-lindsay-rapp