Piece of Mind

a closet 

full of contradictions

a wardrobe of non-conformity

her piece of mind

When my beloved 80+ year old Aunt confessed she didn't understand my art, I took no offense, nor was I surprised.  Born in the 1930s, she was taught ART was realism. A barn was a barn, not the illusion of the artist's interpretation. 

I explained to my Tante Eva that she didn't need to "understand it" to enjoy the colors, shapes, and composition. She was grateful for that because now she could just allow her eyes to see the poetry and bathe in the emotions it inspired in her. 

It's not the first time someone said they don’t understand abstract art. What they do understand are the colors and composition intrigue them and draw them in. I have a theory this emotional pull comes from our infancy.

When my son and his wife were expecting my now 5-year-old grandson, I bought a book on infant development. Within the first few pages I learned we have rods and cones in our eyes; we see black & white through our rods and color through our cones. When we are born, only the rods are fully developed until we reach the age of six months. 

Can you imagine seeing everything in black & white and one your 6-month birthday, you wake up and Holy Cow it's a kaleidoscope of magic! Consider the impact all those dancing colors have on your newly percolating mind. 

Whether it happens gradually or all at once, I think on a deeply subliminal level, we are trying to get back to that miraculous moment when we opened our eyes and saw the first rainbow spectrums of color. 

Such a momentous experience would lay deeply in the core of our development, which is why I imagine, so many people tell me, whether they understand the art or not, one of the first things that draws them in is the COLOR.