Great Art & Transformative Seeing
Great Art & Transformative Seeing
“Art is indispensible, because it points towards the living unity of the
inner and outer faces of reality. By underscoring the unified nature of the world in a deeply engaging and sensuous way, art provides a direct and tangible experience of unity that philosophy cannot attain by itself.” (Fideler, D.)
Welcome to the fascinating world of art. Many of us have been moved by a work of art or sensed something profound when face to face with a masterpiece or standing in the body of architectural space. But often when we come to study art, the intrinsic quality we initially sensed is often lost in an over analytical approach which pushes the numinous further away.
We seem to have lost the language and the ability with which to see and respond when it comes to art. But this wasn’t always the case. For millennia art has been the medium through which greater realities and understanding could be gleaned and their power and presence still pervades today, if we know how to engage.
Art can inspire, re-ignite our passion and purpose, heal, awaken our senses to the world of the sensual and help us re-discover intuition, imagination and creativity as a way of living. But in order to experience these profound changes in your life and that of others, it is our learning approach which needs to be addressed. Learning should always be about a sense of discovery, curiosity, response, feeling and reflection. Fundamental to our approach to art is one which includes and honours all key faculties of our mind when it comes to learning; that of the rational, the imagination and the transcendent or connection to something greater than ourselves. If we include all these aspects which are not only our consciousness, but that are part of the cosmological metaphysical make up, how we approach art becomes one which is established in transformative seeing and learning. We shift our perception and approach to learning in general to not what can I learn about art, but what can I learn from it. This is at the heart of all ancient wisdom, from the ancient Egyptians, Plato, Renaissance magi such a Marsilio Ficino, visionaries such as William Blake, archetypal psychologists such as Carl Jung and James Hillman, scholars such as Dr Marie Angelo, Dr Joseph Milne and Dr Angela Voss and many, many more who I cover in my talks, courses and workshops. Immersing yourself in the works of art, architecture and artists you find the most inspiring provides rich nourishment for the senses, the intellect, the soul, the heart.
