pat loughery

Art as Incarnation

by Eric Herron | December 13, 2011

Beauty that exists in the mind is hidden. The inkling of a picture. The faint murmur of a melody. That beautiful word that wants to become a poem. At these stage of existence, these are only spiritual things. They are invisible, silent, unspoken—except to the artist.

But, once the brush is put to the canvas, or the fingers walk the piano keys. When the silent word grows into a phrase and then into a run-on sentence, and then into a rhyming couplet or two or three that is spelled out on a page or spilled out of the mouth—then, the spiritual becomes material. It is no longer hidden. The beauty once unknown to all but one, becomes known and knowable to all.

Art is incarnation.

Incredibly, the relationship between the artist and her work also enables a new relational possibility: Intimacy between the artist and the one who confronts the art. This relationship—between artists and beholder—once did not exist. But, after the art is made, it becomes a translator. It becomes a vehicle for the spiritual, a medium for interaction and communication.

Art is spiritual ideas birthed into the material world. Art is incarnation.

Watch this video.

Great article by Eric Herron on the spirituality of creativity. Don’t miss the video either – it’s a gleeful story!