Girl with the perl earring

Art as a process of transformation

'Girl with a Pearl Earring', the painting by 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer is well known. There is a historical novel written by Tracy Chevalier (1999) which was inspired by the story behind it. A movie adaptation of the book also has come out. It is a portrait of a girl with a headscarf-wearing a set of pearl earrings. The girl is gazing straight at you with a mysterious, yet emotionless and empathetic look. Or was it her depression that caused this disinterested face? It also reflects a surety in expression about her relationship or acquaintance with the artist himself. The earring is expensive which says it belonged to the wife of the artist as Vermeer's family was relatively wealthy. So, he let her wear it also tells something.

Vermeer had a family with children. None of them or his wife was allowed to be in his studio in those days that it was kept very clean with meticulous care as creating oil paint from scratch was tedious work. So, one would assume the girl who was his studio assistant, would be the one who had spent time with the artist the most. It would be safe to assume that Vermeer had some intimate relationship with this girl. As one could imagine, the melancholic look of the girl can be a reflection of Vermeer's own state of mind as an introvert. Dutch life was not that bright and inspiring during that transitional period in Europe and Scandinavian weather makes one depressed in general unless one develops some refined skills in music and art to make it more colorful. Well, this can be relative and may be a gross generalization. Anyway, the point is that if one doesn't know about any of these historical facts, they also can appreciate the painting. But it will not be wholesome, I think.

Any artwork as an aesthetic experience is intellectual as well as an emotional one. So, the narrative makes it easier for one to dive much deeper into it. Every creative has a story. When you look at a certain body of work together, one can see it by forming connections even if with elusive forms or abstract concepts. The demarcations are contextually subjective. But everything in art is based on reality. One could say, music, poetry and art are as real and direct as it gets, near to the truth.

Most of the content has been presented in its various permutations already. So, anything new has to be said in a totally fresh language, to be effective. So, this is really hard work, for anyone who is serious about genuine art making. It takes real guts to keep on going by believing in what one does and sticking on to it, even when the community around show no support most of the time and look at you as an alien from another planet!

It is not just a means to an end, but a never-ending hell of a means! Thus, art is like a river that never reaches the ocean and an art practitioner flots in the flow and at times swims upwards and against it. This struggle makes her a better-skilled artist if she survives. So many have dropped the ball along the way. But one will find eventually a method not to fight the flow and let it go, to overcome a lifetime of 'suffering' called art making. Does it have to be an eternal Sisyphean punishment? Sometimes I wonder.

It is too much of a burden of righteousness to carry the history of this 'tainted glory' of humanity on the frail shoulder of an artist, though it has a romantic charm to some and there are reasons I can imagine. But life has to survive art, in my opinion. I believe that one's own inner transformation has to be focused more. Keeping one's ego to the bare minimum, just enough to 'keep the lamp burning', does not seem to be a message that most artists are aware of. They are busy making statements!

Art is more about insights and revelations than to cause socio-political revolutions. There have been revolts that happened in art as a response to social change. Certain forms of art can create some ripples collectively within the power structure sometimes and it has a value and placement in history. Artist's clarity of vision can point to possible changes and provide better ideas for the future as it has a sort of prophetic quality to it. But the archetype of a starving artist as a hero of some failed revolution or martyr for some ideology has proven to be too simplistic of a myth.

An artist's path is that of a process. When the 'stream-entry' happens, one passes a point of no return. Whether the end result of an art process is tangible or not, the memory remains and the journey continues. One's art practice is to enter the 'zone' by sticking on to the process for good. Then, you are one with the trip and it becomes somewhat enjoyable. What better way to regain one's lost home? The inner smile of an art maker, stemming from hands-on experience while engaging with the art process, is as good as the awakened smile of a seer.