Why Art Matters to Me

Why does Art Matter to me?

1. Art creates a more vibrant, interesting and creative world to live in
Many people think that art is only a form of entertainment. However, I feel that art makes the world a more interesting place to live in. Without art, there will not be design and designers, and we will be living in a very boring and mundane world. There will not be much difference in the products we buy, as everything will look the same. Even our homes will look the same without interior designers. To me, art is important in its way of being able to quirk things up, to make the ordinary look unique. It is thanks to art that we have such a vibrant world to live in, with so many different designs and packaging of different food and toy products, and a whole array of clothes. Thus art is very important to me, as it helps us to brighten up our lives, and I cannot even imagine living in a place without art.

2. Through art, I can entertain others
Entertainment is not the only reason why art exists, but it is a reason why there is art. I don't usually create artworks for the sole purpose of entertaining someone (unless its a birthday present). I usually make artworks out of pure interest, but I like using my works to perk someone up. I always feel happy when I brighten up my family and friends' faces after showing them my artworks. I feel glad that I can bring them joy through art.

3. Art helps me to express my emotions
A picture paints a thousand words. Whenever I am feeling very sad or angry, and no one close to me can understand why, I turn to art. I don't draw or paint dramatically to release my bottled up emotions. Instead, I like to draw something that I like, such as animals (or Pokemon), and through drawing these, I find myself relaxing. The time that I take to draw the creatures also allows me to think through my negative emotions. To me, art is the most effective way of expressing my emotions and calming down.

4. Art helps me to discover and understand myself better
I feel that art requires a tremendous lot of patience and effort. On a normal basis, I always think that I have patience. But whenever I am drawing or painting or creating art of any kind, my patience is put to the test. Usually, when I am creating an artwork, I get pretty fed-up and flustered. Time and time again, I find out that I lack patience. I also have a lot of quiet time for self-reflection whenever I am working on an art piece. This allows me to think through my life, and find out my weaknesses and strengths.

5. Art is therapeutic, and helps me to relieve stress
Lastly, art helps me to relieve stress. I find that drawing is very therapeutic, and sometimes, i get so involved in drawing that i do not realise how fast time flies. I love drawing animals, and when I am doing so, I tend to think more about the animal I am drawing, and this always helps me to relax my mind. Playing calming music softly in the background helps too. I will feel very calm, and I always enjoy these moments. Thus, I like to make it a habit to draw frequently, so that I can have regular sessions of de-stressing with art therapy.

Art means a lot to me, and plays a big role in my life. I can't imagine what I'll do if I don't get my regular sessions of de-stressing with my self-conducted art therapy, or how I can cheer others up without using art (I'm not very good with words). I know I will not be able to survive well in a world without colourful, interesting and vibrant art surrounding us.

Visit to Calligraphy and Chinese Brush painting exhibition at Singapore Polytechnic

Recently, I went to a Calligraphy and Chinese Brush painting exhibition at Singapore Polytechnic held by The Society of Chinese Artists. I wanted to go for this exhibition as I took lessons in Chinese Brush painting when I was around 10. My painting teacher, Mr Alan, had his works exhibited there too.

All of the works exhibited were by Singaporeans, so this exhibition gave me many insights into how Singaporean artists view Calligraphy and Chinese Brush painting. To my surprise, there were some paintings that were painted with oil paints. However, most paintings had the traditional Chinese brush painting method, which is painted with Chinese paints, which are very much like watercolour, and are painted with Chinese painting techniques. Before coming to this exhibition, I have never deeply thought about why artists would like to paint in a range of styles and expressions. After visiting this exhibition, and seeing the number of works that are painting in Western styles, I became very intrigued, and thought about this. Here are some of my thoughts.

I feel that since we live in a very globalized world today, it is impossible to totally stick to your roots. We are being influenced everyday with art from all over the world, from the newspapers, blogs, websites, etc. Also, I feel that learning only one form of art would disadvantage the Chinese brush painters, since it is good to have a wide variety and exposure to different forms of art. Thus, maybe the Chinese brush painters had paintings in both Western and Chinese art, with Western art to show how capable they are in the skills segment, and with Chinese art as a main interest and passion. Learning Western art would also expose the Chinese painters to different types of painting and color handling techniques. Thus, they will have a deeper overall understanding of art, which will help them greatly in their work.

Here is an example of a painting that is painted with oil.

Here are examples of paintings that have both Chinese and Western art painting styles.

Here are some examples of paintings painted with traditional Chinese brush painting methods and Chinese watercolour paint.

Chinese brush paintings usually have animals, plants and sceneries as subject matters. In the exhibition, many artists also had animals and landscapes as the subject matter. There were very few paintings of people. This is unlike European art, where the subject matter of people are favoured. I think this is probably because European artists like to focus on the portrayal of human feelings, while Chinese artists prefer to portray sentimental and philosophical feelings.

Here are some examples on the usual subject matter in Chinese art, which was very prominent in the exhibition.

Westerners criticized Chinese art for its lack of perspective and shading, saying it looked "dead" and had "no life at all." The Chinese criticized back by saying Western oil painting was too lifelike and lacked expression. Over expressions of technical skill were considered vulgar to the Chinese. The Chinese focused on capturing 'qi', the life force of the subject matters.

Here are some pieces that I feel are excellent in portraying the 'qi' of the subject matters.

Overall, I am very happy to have the chance to attend this exhibition. I finally managed to have a connection with Chinese brush painting over these years. Also, if one insists on sticking to only one type of art, without any prior exposure to other types of art, I feel that he will forever be a 'frog in the well'. Thus, I learnt how important it is to expose yourself to the different art styles and painting techniques.