Wabi Sabi
Kintsugi bowl.
Going down a rabbit hole these days, in my life and in my work. I have gotten lost a bit in figuring out whether or not I want to live in my rabbit hole and take the blue pill, or come back out on top and go back to normal preprogrammed life. A friend of mine, who is always, always challenging me, reminded me of this concept the other day while we were watching a video he had chosen and it mentioned the idea of wabi sabi. That set me to thinking and the conversation that ensued was heated and argumentative and worth it. I’ve been marinating on it since. The concept of wabi sabi comes from Japan and has many meanings these days but revolves around the idea that nothing lasts, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect. It can apply to both natural and man made objects and life itself, if you ask me. I remember a story about master rug weavers in the middle east where they would deliberately make a mistake in the weaving so that they would not appear to be competing with God. Only the master creator is perfect. I can’t help but think about the natural object as my own physical self and the man made object as my artistic work. And honestly, I’ve got a lot of stuff going on in both arenas where it can apply.
On the personal side, some of you may know and some not, I have been through a lot this past seven years with a cancer diagnosis, six surgeries and then a car accident and six more surgeries. I have been trying to decide whether or not to put myself through one more surgery. It’s been hard for me to come to grips with the idea because after 12 surgeries to date, the idea of one more is daunting and kind of frightening.
How does this relate to art? In art books, wabi sabi is mostly defined as “ flawed beauty”. Since my body now is flawed and most likely, even with this complicated surgery, it will never be the same again. I have struggled with the idea of doing nothing and living with it, or doing something. At this moment, I am still on the path of doing something about it.
This photo is of a wabi sabi piece that incorporates the process called kintsugi which is the “ art of precious scars”. It incorporates the art of repairing with gold or silver lacquer and the understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. I can’t help but feel that the same can be true of humans who have gone through accident and disease or relationship disasters. We do have the choice to come through the other side flawed but beautiful in a unique way. I know I am going to try.