This wall post was sent to me by a good friend who has a number of my works in her home. Thank you Elizabeth! I had to share it, this is a such a beautiful word with a beautiful meaning and describes what I feel is so important in an artwork.
To some, it may be the style, the techniques, the palette or the imagery that pulls you into an artwork and engages you.
To me it is more about feeling, the essence of the person infused in the creation of the work to be shared that fascinates me. This is what I respond to. This is what I feel most when engaging with a work of art. It is possibly the subconscious reason I am drawn to the abstract forms of art over representational. Neither have more importance and there is no right or wrong, just what each person responds to.
There is an energy that remains long after a work is made that emits a signal unique to the artist. In the same way their techniques, subject matter or palette helps you recognise their work, this energy is recognisable.
I believe when you resonate at a similar frequency, the work engages you wholly, not just in an intellectual capacity through your eyes and your mind, but in a way that you feel in your heart, in your body. One of the components I love about sharing art is hearing how someone else views it, what it makes them feel. Often there is a match between what I was thinking or feeling when making a painting that a viewer picks up on, without imagery to guide those thoughts/feelings. To me that is pure magic.
The invisible communication that is enmeshed inside the strokes, the color, the design of a piece of art. It is the connection between artist, art and the viewer that speaks without words. Art has a language all of it's own. A language that connects souls. I love that there is a word to describe that essence. The word 'meraki' is music to my ears.