A Few Words on Vision:
The practice of what I refer to as “depth perception” is a key motor for me in my work. What I mean by this is that I hope to approach my motif not only with an attentive, unhurried observation, but also what philosopher Joseph Pieper describes as, “a deeper and more receptive vision, a more intense awareness, a sharper and more discerning understanding, a more patient openness for all things quiet and inconspicuous, an eye for things previously overlooked.”
This kind of seeing into things, as it were, is one of the highest pursuits of my work, to encounter this inner aspect of the visible world, so steeped in infinite richness, and which calls for that interior life which is so essential.
“The beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer [or artist] begins where human perception begins.”
- Flannery O’Connor, The Nature and Aim of Fiction
“Before you can express anything in tangible form, you first need eyes to see. The mere attempt, therefore, to create an artistic form compels the artist to take a fresh look at the visible reality; it requires authentic and personal observation. Long before a creation is completed, the artist has gained for himself another and more intimate achievement: a deeper and more receptive vision, a more intense awareness, a sharper and more discerning understanding, a more patient openness for all things quiet and inconspicuous, an eye for things previously overlooked. In short: the artist will be able to perceive with new eyes the abundant wealth of all visible reality, and, thus challenged, additionally acquires the inner capacity to absorb into his mind such an exceedingly rich harvest. The capacity to see increases.”
-Joseph Pieper, Only the Lover Sings
“Those, however, who have – perhaps painfully – experienced and accepted, even in the delight of their beholding eyes, that ultimately their longing will not and cannot be fulfilled, those will be unable to create mere pleasing, agreeable, frictionless art. Konrad Weiss once remarked, ‘Contemplation will not be satisfied until blinded by the object of its ultimate desires.’ Such a statement almost leads us beyond the confines of this world.”
-Joseph Pieper, Only the Lover Sings
