Why Make Art?

Art, at its core, isn’t just a per­son­al endeav­or; it tran­scends indi­vid­u­al­i­ty, tap­ping into a col­lec­tive human expe­ri­ence. Artists are dri­ven by an innate com­pul­sion, likened to the instinc­tu­al migra­tion of tur­tles to the sea, a force that feels as nat­ur­al and essen­tial as breath­ing. This dri­ve does­n’t stem from a desire for self-explo­ration or exter­nal acknowl­edg­ment. Rather, it’s an impulse towards self-expres­sion, a yearn­ing to share a unique per­spec­tive with the world, in hopes of res­onat­ing with oth­ers and spark­ing a shared emo­tion­al expe­ri­ence.

This act of cre­at­ing and shar­ing art is akin to leav­ing a mark on the fab­ric of exis­tence, a con­fir­ma­tion of being here. It cre­ates a rip­ple effect, with each piece of art influ­enc­ing per­cep­tions, reshap­ing real­i­ties and con­tribut­ing to a col­lec­tive con­scious­ness. From Michelangelo’s David to the ear­li­est cave paint­ings and even a child’s casu­al art­work, each piece echoes the same fun­da­men­tal human need to sig­nal our pres­ence, to say, “I was here.”

Art serves as a con­duit for con­nec­tion, tran­scend­ing the bar­ri­ers of lan­guage and iso­la­tion by expos­ing our inner­most views to the exter­nal world. It acts as a bridge, link­ing dis­parate per­spec­tives and expe­ri­ences, and fos­ter­ing a sense of uni­ty. Through art, we con­front and share our inter­nal land­scapes, eras­ing the lines of divi­sion and tap­ping into a deep­er, uni­ver­sal truth: our inter­con­nect­ed­ness. Art, in its var­i­ous forms and expres­sions, is not mere­ly a reflec­tion of indi­vid­ual insight but a com­mu­nal act of remem­ber­ing and acknowl­edg­ing our col­lec­tive essence. We are not sep­a­rate but one, con­nect­ed through the end­less cycle of cre­ation, per­cep­tion, and inter­ac­tion, con­tin­u­al­ly shap­ing and reshap­ing our shared real­i­ty.