“Don’t judge art you haven’t taken a moment to feel. Art you don’t Understand. Art that makes you uncomfortable. That’s the kind of art that leaves a mark, the kind of art that changes your life forever.” JuliART is a Namibian artist and nude photographer, whose art made us reflect on all that art is, and the freedom that art holds. 99FM’s MYD Art asked JuliART, Julia Hango, how to find freedom in art.
For the MYD Art article with JuliART about her 2016 exhibition #NakedSpaces, click here
Finding Freedom in Art by JuliART
The question is what is freedom? And then, what is freedom to YOU as an individual? How can you express that freedom within your own art? These questions are important to ask one’s self as an artist.
I use my art as an outlet to find freedom, to break free from what is expected from and seen as the “norm” for a young black woman in this day and age.
Sometimes my art has a life of it’s own, morphing into images from my subconscious, from who I really am. Then I need to take a moment to be fully present and understand the teachings and reflections of self I get from these pieces. This is humbling and reminds me about why I create. How free I truly am. How what I planned on, is the prison inside my mind I am trying to emancipate from.
“The differences between you, the Beloved, and Love itself are nothing more than tumbling collections of vapour… vanishing then reappearing, eternally. Knowing this, seeing that you are the Witness, you are free.
Free to act with compassion toward all beings, so that an angry cloud that spits lightning does not block your sight.
Free to accept what comes and release what goes, so that you stop constantly averting your eyes from the symphonic Creation.
Free to be thankful for all the tapestries unveiled to you so that you could at last see the Eternal beyond the turning of the seasons. When you are freed from chasing clouds, the line between witnessing and creating vanishes.” Matthew Catlett
With that said, perhaps finding freedom in art relies on you finding freedom within yourself, especially with our own art.
Once you have opened Pandora’s Box (Your Mind) there is no going back, there is only freedom waiting for you on the inside. And this is what art is about for me, finding one’s self while creating. Appreciating the true freedom expressed in different ways and languages by artists.
We can all learn from one another’s expressions of “Freedom”. Don’t judge art you haven’t taken a moment to feel. Art you don’t Understand. Art that makes you uncomfortable. That’s the kind of art that leaves a mark, the kind of art that changes your life forever.
You can find JuliART Art / Photography through her Facebook page by clicking here
Or find the Juliart and WINE: Nude Life Drawing Salon Events, details by clicking here
Instagram : juliart_Photography
Twitter : Juliart7
Tumblr : bodypositivenamibia.tumblr.com or http://juliartcult.tumblr.com
Email : juliarthango@rocketmail.com