Is Not Who You Are But What You Are.

Defining oneself in writing can be more complex than it seems. A million ideas flooded my mind, resulting in my brain working nonstop until confusion and frustration after hours of staring at the screen, it became clear to me there that was one word without which the world as I see it would change completely. Art.

                As an 18 year-old, I never expected to find comprehension of the world from an abstract painting. I caught myself staring at what I later learned was named "One: Number 31" by Jackson Pollock. The painting resonated within my mind as if the sound of the people’s chatter in the museum were nonexistent. An expanse of canvas bears the evidence of the artist’s energetic and dynamic movements to create these whirls of lines and colors, these skeins of enamel, some matte, some glossy, forming what I found was a vanishing sense of solidity. Contemplating it from a distance, the colors merged in my eyes, and its overall dimensions exhibited density and lushness. Pollock’s work, nevertheless, was conceived to be viewed from close proximity, revealing delicate details despite the industrial paints he used as materials. This sole painting was able to influence and affect all of my senses, my emotions and my intellect. My departure from reality was obvious, I couldn’t control such expression.

                I later realized I was staring at what I considered to be Life. It was complicated, passionate, vulnerable, deep and chaotic. I related more and more to the complex image, and time went by slowly as I flowed along the ropes of paint in Pollock’s creation. This feeling of communication between the painting and me seemed strange. This mysterious feeling awakened a curiosity within me, a thirst for the unknown – What else have I been taking for granted?

                As time passed by, I became addicted to the feeling art expressed, telling stories, feelings and frustrations through a mixture of textures and colors. Art had granted me a little world in which I could get lost in. Art provides a way to experience one self’s in relation to the universe. Art is an internal appreciation of balance and harmony, a basic human instinct that transcends the individual. This basic instinct can embody many forms: photography, dance, plastic arts and of course, writing. Being extremely logical, in each one of these forms I was capable of interpreting my feelings without over thinking. Some people choose to embrace this intangible sense, and some choose to never acknowledge its existence. I choose (and demand) the enjoyment of one of God’s greatest gifts: freedom of expression through every form.

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 Jackson Pollock