Another small piece that I reworked. I love it so much more now. It was hard to take apart the first iteration, but I knew it would be better if I did. It is hard to let go of first attempts. And it was a bit cathartic hammering in those tacks into the salvaged metal. It is a little hard to tell my this photo, but the tacks are not flush against the surface, but sticking out a bit.
Catharsis is defined as the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, especially through certain kinds of art. The release of tension can lead to insight or finding closure. For myself, the act of creating is definitely a release of tension. It is a way of processing. The subject matter isn’t even the point often. It is the actually act of taking all that life stuff and creating something from it. A few months ago I was talking to a writer friend about this and she said she is the same. I was like, I can’t imagine life without this way of processing life, like what would I do with all of this “fill in the blank”? I imagined a big pile of toxic sludge building up inside me. She laughed and said, yeah, but maybe it would be easier for us to just be and not to have to process every little thing. ha! Yes, the dangers of too much navel gazing.
But life is hard and crazy and some of us have a need to express the beauty/ugly/pain/joys of being alive and living on this planet. To name the experiences and moments, and release whatever emotions have built up. Then share it with others who then say, yes, I feel that too!
I listened to a podcast interview today while I was working on the computer and it was called Catharsis. I really enjoyed this interview, so much so, I named this painting after it.