Examination of Reoccurring Themes and Motifs

I often wonder why particular themes and motifs manifest themselves in an artist’s work with an almost predictable frequency. Is some of this really about formative influences? Or is it us trying to emulate a particular artists’ sentiment; or approach to art production, perhaps our understanding or appreciation of particular styles or genres?

Can a particular theme based on personal experience have a lasting effect on the act of making? Could how our thoughts and purpose of art in our formative years carry us through a lifetime’s approach of our creative struggle? Can experiences either good or bad shape our world view and permeate our expressions in visual art?

The universality of human experiences leads us all down this same narrow arduous path. Some paths diverge based on specific experiences but if we were to look back and reflect we would find those experiences to be shared with others as well if not by all. I don’t seek to be clever or somehow believe I need to be this revolutionary maker of things. I don’t think I am creating work that reveals itself to the world for the first time. I cannot presume to be so pompous.   I can only hope to provide a connection to the viewer that is both relatable in their own lives, or the lives of others they know.

Why do I have a propensity to revisit particular themes and create it repeatedly? Is it because I haven’t truly resolved my fascination with it? Can an artist spend their whole life creating still life works or the landscape for example? Not because of habit but because they are trying to glean some sense of purpose in the subject matter? The question why always seems to pervade the creative process, when we create a body of work it can speak to us. It is in this moment that we must address the preoccupation; it is in this moment we must push past the obvious in order to better understand the impulse. Sometimes we don’t fully understand the marks we make, or why we construct the compositions, they are at the end of the day a projection of the interior of our mind that manifests itself in the world.

In my post secondary school years I was exposed to so many more movements and art periods, my appreciation went beyond symbolism and romantic movements.  It opened up the world of abstraction, and the subversive as well. This walk through both contemporary and historical appreciation for visual arts shaped my approach. We cannot continue to maintain idealized views of what it means to make art in the face of these new considerations. Can we, should we?

Is it wrong to dismiss the underpinnings of any movement or consideration that anyone of us feels motivated to explore? Can we attribute our own personal aesthetic as a way to legitimize another’s efforts, and do we have the right? How does one measure success, is it in the adulation of our peers or the public in general or does it come from within our personal view of growth? These are hard questions to reconcile. In the end create for the sake of making, create and hope the motifs resolve themselves and if they don’t, then embrace them for what they are. They are at the end of the day a reflection of your inner most thoughts and concerns.