Seeking God in Art

What is art? If I surveyed a group of people and ask them this, I’m sure no two answers would be the same. There are so many different types of art, dance, visual art, music, etc., it’s hard to pinpoint the perfect definition. After all, how can we capture art in its full beauty with just a few words?

If I had to say what art is in one sentence, I would say: art is finding truth about the human experience. Now, many people may say art is subjective. It’s whatever you think. But, we know that if art is about finding the truth, then there is nothing subjective about it after all because, if we are seeking truth in art, then we are seeking God in art, whether or not we realize that.

(After all, Jesus did say, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life.”)

But why does art matter? Well, as GK Chesterton once said, “art is the signature of man.” The ability to generate art and be creativity not only separates us from other animals, but also shows how we are made in God’s image. God had the vision to make the beauty of a rainbow breaking through a gray sky, of the sun climbing of from behind a mountain, and of ripples dancing on a pond.

When writing this, I was researching “why we make art.” There has to be more than just the desire to use the talents we have been given. Through my search, a common theme in the “why” was empathy. As poet Kwame Dawes expressed, “And so the ultimate aim of my writing is to create an environment of empathy, something that would allow the miracle of empathy to take place, where human beings can seem to rise out of themselves and extend themselves into others and live within others.” If you add “and within God”, that sounds a lot like the Mystical Body of Christ to me. Being able to understand the feeling of the artist and the other people viewing the art connects us to each other, which then can connect us as a society to God.

In case you couldn’t guess by now, I love all forms of art. I love music, films, paintings, and basically any medium in between. It’s not just because I was raised with music always in my house, or because of an art history course I took in high school. And it’s not just because it’s my preferred way to spend my free time because it brings me happiness and contentment. For me, it’s because when we create and experience good art, we are sharing and experiencing God. But most of all, I love art because art is supposed to make you feel. It can’t think of anything else that’s purpose is to make you feel, whether it be sadness or compassion or happiness. We live in a culture of apathy, where it isn’t “cool” to make your love for something known. That fervently caring makes you vulnerable, and why would anyone want to put themselves in that sort of position where they are not in control and they could get hurt? However, when we open up our hearts to passionate human experience, with all the highs and lows that entails, life is beautiful, and I am forever grateful to art, in all of its forms, for aiding me in living a life full of beauty.

~ Art is a dart that is aimed at the heart: of poison, will maim; of truth, will sustain. ~

Michelle’s Top 10 Recommended Books

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Betty Smith

2. The Chosen: Chaim Potok

3. Death on the Nile: Agatha Christie

4. The Help: Kathryn Stockett

5. To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee

6. The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini

7. The Outsiders: S.E. Hinton

8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: JK Rowling

9. The Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald

10. The Book Thief: Markus Zusak

The images in order are:

• Dance at Bougival, Renoir

• Brooklyn (2015)

• West Side Story (1961)

• One the Waterfront (1954)

• The Assumption, Titian