I’ve come to the the conclusion that making art and practicing magic are essentially the same thing.

This notion not only applies to myself, in the process of making art, but also the over-arching system of giving and receiving art in public space.It is a sort of alchemical balancing act when it comes to constructing art; whereas I may start with a few simple, raw materials such as wood planks, a sheet of loose, earthen canvas or linen and a handful of staples, I transform these materials into something entirely different, and unique–their parts no longer adequately describe the entirety of the image or experience.

 The whole process is a disciplinary practice of personal magic, and I feel a deep connection to the work even as I spread thick globs of white gesso to the canvas to tighten it like a drum, or when I begin to apply a bare sketch after it is smoothened and dried. I gather together all of my material, being that mental or physical, and let them swim around each other allowing the work to transform itself. Art, as with magic, demands an awareness of the subtlety between controlling the medium and letting the medium control oneself. Each color and shade must be diligently applied, and one must not let laziness or narcissism fall into the work, therefore tainting the magic of the work, causing it to lose the basic, empowering feeling that one may come to experience.

What also makes art resemble magic is how magic can be a form of medicine. Magic in its truest form is a transitional-healing energy. This applies not only to the viewer but to the artist-alchemist themselves. Personally, the making of art, from elaborating the imagery in my mind, to the constructing of its physical form, and finally the manifestation of a spiritual experience in the presence of a finished image is a sort of exorcism, a transformative psychotherapy, a completed meditation on a whole theme that has boggled my life. I cannot see or make art based on narrow particulars, my art and drive is fueled by a holistic approach which tends to intuit a web of narratives all playing off of one another, inside a specific artwork and also within all the works I create together. I usually laugh, not out of contempt, but out of curious joy when someone asks me “well, what’s this piece about”? I myself, never fully “know” what is going on in a work, but I can usually muster up a long and contemplative discussion with another curious individual about what is possibly going on and what it means to me to create such a work. I do want to interject, although many might find it to be an easy way out of a difficult problem, that with creating art–words will never truly describe what I experienced while making a piece or what the final image stands for. If I could say it in words I wouldn’t have bothered toiling with the obsessiveness of line and flow, color and pattern. 

This is one of the major reasons I have always been drawn towards religious imagery and not religious words. I find the thoughtful images of any religion to be soul-stirring and spark a keen sense of harmony, vibrancy, and wonder. Written religiosity tends to merely be voices of old men who never experienced the power of the image, or the direct connection with the mother nature, or the divine, or true reality, or whatever you call it. 

There are numerous other analogies which tie the artist to the magician-sorcerer as well, especially in modern times. Like a magician, an artist choses how to use their personal power and knowledge of the system of powers that be. The vast majority are solely interested in it as a commodity, a quick trick that can have a price tag hung on it. Some learn a few novel tricks and chose to show them off to boost their ego, some are lazy and slur-handed creating muddy messes, always wanting the benefits of the work but never disciplining themselves in the arduous task of understanding their full potential with a medium. Some use the magic to harm others; for the power of image in the hands of greedy, self-centered domineers is the essence of propaganda, advertising, product manipulation, war and separation. Some get caught up in the allure of aesthetics, their personal vanity and desire to experience this one-dimensional beauty traps them in a hedonistic chamber where the beauty of the image is the ONLY value to them and nothing lies beyond that fanciful delight. 

It is only a few who have chosen to dedicate their lives in humility to the true understanding and nature of art-making. For it is only a few who have listened to their intuition and been lead by the spirit of art to create something that transcends one’s personal desires. It is only a few artist-magicians who have experienced the sublime and terrifying nature of reality, who spend their lives toiling over their visions, seeing for the world, and carrying the burden of the image so that others may come to know it or chose to ignore it. The artist-magician is not a pulpit-rider, they are not a zealot, they are not needy and do not grow giant erections in the lime light. They share with those who seek them out, and hold nothing back in secrecy because they do not fear being plagiarized or mocked, because they know deep down that what they do can never really be a commodity and it is not something they can own and hoard to themselves. When I am old I hope I can say that I have been driven by my intuition and not by market or stigma, fear or cynicism. I hope my personal magic can be passed on and shared with those who wish to embrace the wonder and strangeness of reality.