“Imagination is more important than information,” said Albert Einstein, giving us all hope that we may still have a chance.
We grew up with the understanding of how important it is to develop the imagination. How much imagination can allow, grow, and heal.
Right. What would we do without the possibility of imagining our future, near or far? How would we know where we wanted to go? How would human development have taken place: scientific, technological, medical, with no imagination? Coincidences led to quite a few revelations but without the imagination there would not have been the opportunities that made this coincidence possible?
And yet, I come across places where it seems like imagination can be an obstacle. At least to me it feels that way.
Were you also lying outdoors on your back, watching the clouds? Imagining the rabbit, the elephant, the crocodile? How they chased each other, how they changed and disappeared? It was one of my favorite activities, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends. Imagining whole stories.
But when I started freestyle painting, I felt it was blocking me a bit. If the shapes and lines become figures, animals or landscapes, it is no longer possible to rotate the canvas, it is difficult to add elements because they do not "get along" with the story ... it is limiting. Suddenly this imagination, which was so blessed and developed the creativity, suddenly blocks it.
It took me quite a while to get rid of it. And that was a revelation. A different kind of connection to shapes, spots and lines. No longer through the head but through the guts, through emotions. I discovered the abstract expressiont painting. A painting that invites one to let go. Liberation from expectations, liberation from criticism, and also liberation from thoughts. Imagination is a thought. I found that being released from it produces a different experience. An experience that develops intuition and emotion.
I liked what Monet said: "Everyone talks about my art, and pretends to understand it as if it was necessary to understand, while there is a need to simply love." Claude Monet
I look at artwork with excitement and love. And need not explain.