Believing in raw self-expression

Click here to listen to an original song by the author

Simply put, I believe in art. I believe that no matter the way art is being shown, art is the sincerest expression of one’s self. Truly knowing someone can take years, but it can also only take a single glance at a person’s work to feel as if you have known them a lifetime. Art can be visual, musical, gentle, provocative, chaotic, and occasionally all of these simultaneously. As David Bowie said,” I don’t see any boundaries between the art forms. To me, they all interrelate completely.”

Others’ creations have the ability to evoke raw emotions in me, and my own work helps me understand those emotions. As a teenager, it sometimes feels impossible to explain how I feel at any given moment, but when I have a guitar or a pencil, I feel liberated. Pre-written, non-offensive, radio-friendly songs are fine, but the true, honest nature of a song rooted deep in the heart of person will last longer than any “Top 10 Hit.”

People who consume art may love it, but there is a definite emptiness to it. People listen to band after band to try to tap into themselves, but only art that one makes him or herself can truly hit deep down.

There are times when no piece of art or music in this world can quell me; and that’s when I write. That’s why I write a lot. My art is mine and my art is my freedom.

Perhaps the greatest thing about art is the stories behind them. Art is pain, suffering, hatred, love, passion, & beauty; and it’s all of these things because, like I said, everyone is different. Everyone has a story, everyone has a freedom, everyone has an art. Art changes as people do. There are seven billion people on this planet and not one man, woman, or child is the same. We all have the potential of art, whether it’s freedom in insurmountable oppression, the warm feeling of a fire on a cold winter’s night, or the embrace of the one we love most, we all have it in us. We all have a story to share, a feeling to express, and a passion to release. All in all, we should never forget where art began. We should not abandon where we started; we started in love. Love is what holds us together. In times of grief and agony where clouds rain down on us endlessly, the love of one another keeps us whole. When I feel hurt and jeopardized, art shelters me. In the words of Pablo Picasso,”Art washes away from our soul the dust of everyday life.” Art isn’t the only path, but it’s my umbrella through the storm.

Every smile on every girl, every laugh from every baby, every building, every family, every house, every blade of grass, every song, every painting, every tattoo, every wink, every book, every rhyme, every word, & every thing under the sun is the art of us. So really, I don’t believe in art, I believe in people; and I believe in love.