Art and its place in my life

For me, art is everywhere, and I believe that it is what we see and how we interpret it, that makes it art for us, or not.

When I was much younger, living in Cape Town, South Africa, my mother loved taking us for walks in the neighbourhood to see houses under construction. At that time in the early to late 60’s, there were no rules around visiting construction sites, so we were privy to seeing bedrooms, bathrooms etc., in their various stages. I was able to visualize and imagine how the rooms would look and this too happened in our own home, when it was refurbished. I found these experiences exciting and stimulating, and my creative juices flowed in abundance as I imagined and fantasized about how everything would eventually look.

My creativity came in many forms. I loved making up poems and rhymes from an early age, did puppet shows for children’s birthday parties, was a perfectionist with all my school projects, detailing lines on maps etc. Musically, I could keep perfect pitch and played the piano by ear (which is probably why I hated being taught music and having to read the notes) Painting and drawing emerged later. I have sculpted using ceramic clay and porcelain and earthenware and loved the texture of the clay and what I could do with it.

I now play the taiko drums in Japan and am mastering learning how to read music. Challenges abound constantly and this is just another thing in my life that pushes me. Pushes me to be vulnerable. Pushes me to surprise myself at what I can still do, while in my mid-60’s.

And then there is the art that I make today………………..emotive art, which is what I believe I do. I am a deeply sensitive person who feels and analyses and thinks and interprets everything in my life. This is all visible in my art. It is free, it is controlled, and, on some days, I feel incredibly productive and on other days, I can spend hours designing art work and still not find the “right” combination of shape, form, colour and composition.

This is my freedom. I am free to create or not to create and this in no way has either a negative or positive meaning. It is what it is. Today there is abundance and tomorrow there is the process. It is all enough. It fills me to express myself through my creations. Sometimes, the meaning is not so profound. My existential being just lets “the other” interpret what I have created, in their own way, and that suffices.

My art is everywhere where my heart is. With friends and family in South Africa, Australia, Japan, France and the USA.

I am excited to be participating in my first group exhibition in Tokyo at the end of September and will have a solo exhibition in November.

I am art.

And you are art.

When we open our eyes, we can see art in everything.

Art is truly everywhere.

Written by

Shelley Sacks, Director of Ohana International School

September 17, 2021