"I also paint, draw and I'm into film and photography as well, and the same thing applies to all of them. You're presenting this material to the general public and hoping that they're going to 'get' what you're doing. Some don't, some do"
About this Quote
An artist who paints, draws, makes films, and shoots photographs is not simply hopping between tools. The underlying practice is the same: shaping experience into a form and sending it out to meet the unpredictable minds of others. The moment of release is always a gamble. You hope someone will see what you were trying to do. You accept that not everyone will. That acceptance is not resignation but a working principle of honest art.
The scare quotes around "get" matter. They hint at how slippery understanding can be. To be gotten is not to be solved like a puzzle with one answer. It is to be met halfway, where intention and interpretation overlap. Every viewer brings biographical baggage, cultural codes, and mood to the encounter. A painting may speak to someone who grew up with certain colors and motifs. A photograph may be read as a social statement or as pure form. A film may be taken as confession, satire, or failure, depending on the lens the audience carries. None of this is fully under the artist’s control.
Speaking across media also reveals a deeper continuity. Whether still or moving, literal or abstract, visual work relies on rhythm, contrast, framing, and the suggestive power of omission. The craft shifts, but the risk remains: will the work connect without pandering, remain layered without turning opaque? Addressing the general public raises the stakes. Accessibility is not the same as simplification; it is a commitment to clarity of intention while leaving room for discovery.
There is humility and resilience in admitting that some do not and some do. It frees the maker from chasing universal approval and refocuses the measure of success on genuine contact. Even a handful of viewers who feel seen can justify the effort. Art’s life begins where the artist’s control ends, in the volatile space of reception, where being partially misunderstood is the price of being truly understood by a few.
The scare quotes around "get" matter. They hint at how slippery understanding can be. To be gotten is not to be solved like a puzzle with one answer. It is to be met halfway, where intention and interpretation overlap. Every viewer brings biographical baggage, cultural codes, and mood to the encounter. A painting may speak to someone who grew up with certain colors and motifs. A photograph may be read as a social statement or as pure form. A film may be taken as confession, satire, or failure, depending on the lens the audience carries. None of this is fully under the artist’s control.
Speaking across media also reveals a deeper continuity. Whether still or moving, literal or abstract, visual work relies on rhythm, contrast, framing, and the suggestive power of omission. The craft shifts, but the risk remains: will the work connect without pandering, remain layered without turning opaque? Addressing the general public raises the stakes. Accessibility is not the same as simplification; it is a commitment to clarity of intention while leaving room for discovery.
There is humility and resilience in admitting that some do not and some do. It frees the maker from chasing universal approval and refocuses the measure of success on genuine contact. Even a handful of viewers who feel seen can justify the effort. Art’s life begins where the artist’s control ends, in the volatile space of reception, where being partially misunderstood is the price of being truly understood by a few.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
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