Filling in the Story

Well, you know there is a story in this piece. Question is, what exactly is the story? Well, I think this is definitely one of those pieces where the viewer provides the story. Alisa Maskaeva, for some reason, created a heart made to look like it is living wood, or maybe it is supposed to be a tree growing from a heart or a wooden heart giving way to new growth? It could be any of these things. The message is not clear-cut. And it doesn’t need to be, does it? But putting two disparate things together, well, like Wednesday post, it makes you think. Our minds want to find the connection, a connection for ourselves or to determine what the artist might have been trying to say.

I think that is an important thing to remember when creating. Although it’s wonderful when a work can visually convey a very particular message, it is also valid, and often even preferable, to give the viewer the ability to fill in the message or the story according to what they will see or get out of the work. I think your goal as an artist then is to simply embody a feeling, a sentiment, or just part of a story in your work, and leave all that room for the viewer to fill in the blanks, or not. A piece of art can simply make someone smile while it may make others think. That is the thing about visual arts … it is hard to direct the viewer to our thoughts and observations specifically through our work but then it does allow them to contribute to the art, at least for themselves, in a way you could not have anticipated or planned.

Alisa does not have a lot of things out there online, but if you want to keep track of her upcoming items, favorite her Etsy shop or follow her page on Facebook.

Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Use a random word generator (like this one here) and have it choose two words for you. You can have it generate up to 5 different sets but make yourself pick one of those five. You can also open a dictionary and, with eyes closed, pick out a work on two different pages you randomly open to. Create or design a piece with these two different words. Your mind will make a connection in concept or with a story. Let that direct what you create.

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