A Play Within Limitations

The language of art is not really intended to describe or encompass nature; its purpose is to realize our own nature as it relates to the nature of all things. From this standpoint, the history of art is a play within limitations—somewhat the way life is.

However, do not underestimate all the personal and cultural taboos. You can fool around with a still life and get a few strange comments, but alter a face or a body and you might well be attacked! Even our own image is bothered. A squashed onion is one thing, but a nose? Eyes? An entire head?

All of the above is an attempt to protect you from yourself as well as from others. Be aware of this deep and perverse block. Slop around with a tree, make designs of some buildings, but don’t mess with the good old human image!

Behind this block hides a strange, magical feeling that, in fact, an art product is not just the expression of a language, but the creation of a mystical factor, a fetish. That is the real reason why people do not like the human image used loosely. It is an old and profound fear of images. Can we get around all this?

Don Stacy
“Drawing And Painting From Imagination”