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What do artists actually do?

I've not written much lately as I was busy completing a series of paintings and corresponding with galleries. During the pleasant busyness of the process, it occurred to me that I wanted to write a few words about what I feel is that artists actually do. Here is a little impression of my insights, written at once without editing or censoring. It felt good to share it.

 Can you imagine a world without art? Without colors, paintings, sculptures, architecture...?A grey minimalistic world that would not tolerate variety or abundance? How strange it would be if everyone were focused solely on producing objects of  'practical' value, without a sense of aesthetics or thinking about design. I wonder if innovation would be possible in such a rigid reality. Or whether one would have the drive and the imagination to think foward, to think exponentially, making unexpected leaps and connections between concepts.
“And while a hundred civilizations have prospered (sometimes for centuries) without computers or windmills or even the wheel, none have survived even a few generations without art.” - David Bayles

Art has been with us in various forms since the very dawn of humanity, arising from the irresistible urge to depict and self-express, to record and remember. Yet some bluntly consider it irrelevant, redundant, an exercise in elitism or even snobbishness. Creativity as a phenomenon, however, is rarely interested in what others think about it. It rather thrives and explores itself through open and willing minds, ready to learn how to see differently or teach others where to look.
"Art and rebellion will only die with the last person." - Albert Camus

To put it shortly, art cannot and will not disappear. It transforms itself, decisevely giving modernity its distinct flair, while at the same time staying innocently classic and timeless.
"The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers." - James Baldwin
True artists and dedicated creators have always been on a mission to add to and transform current perspectives by telling stories and seeking the most authentic means of self-expression. Whether they know it or not, they also have the important task of finding an antidote for despair and existential emptiness. They must do what they do in order to keep the world moving forward. They must help us (re-)learn how to create meaning by uncovering questions that have been disguised as already established truths. 

 Perhaps their most important task is to keep creating no matter what, facing fear, anxiety and doubt with the courage of their creative faith. 
©REBELLICCA, 2019

You might also like: Why Bother Making Art?, The Conception of the Artist, The Artist is, The Self, Becoming and Being, Whose Script Are You Living Today?, How Much Do You Really Care?

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