As a self-proclaimed artist or a creative at best, I often feel overwhelmed by my inspirations. The other day, when I visited the Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian exhibition at the Kunstmuseum of The Hague, despite the awe I was in by the giant paintings of Klint, ones that I had observed and analyzed ever since I was ten, I as well felt burdened. A big interest in my life is the ideologies of theosophy and the integration of science into spirituality, this I got from Klint and it has stuck with me throughout my exploration of artistic mediums. To see the visual representation of the ideas I have followed for years manifested into what I consider the greatest theosophical artwork of all time left me thinking that it doesn’t get better than this. Now, since I only paint as a hobby, with this mindset, I, of course, don’t intend for this to come off as me trying to become a better artist than Hilma af Klint herself, but rather a confrontation of how it is to be a young creative, especially in the digital media age.
I can trace this envy I have back to one source, and that source is Pinterest, the social media platform for the creation of mood boards, as I have been an observer of the cutthroat aesthetic industry for some time now. As opposed to Instagram, Pinterest posts solely rely on the image and the aesthetic it sells, and for many creatives including myself, it is used to find inspiration for the eventual artwork. The platform is a goldmine of inspiring art, ornate interiors, and an all-around representation of a beautiful lifestyle. For some, the act of categorizing these pictures into their respective mood boards is all Pinterest is used for, however, for others, it’s a rabbit hole of all your ambitions reflected in other, more successful creatives.
I think a big part of this problem is the misjudgment of what being creative actually is. For years, Pinterest was my personal hell as I kept wondering how these people could come up with these ideas, and I think many young creatives out there, tend to think creativity is linked to the invention of something, to be totally unique and original. This however is not its’ definition, creativity is instead the ability to draw inspiration and create your own conclusion, to take two (or more) existing factors, and to create your personal combination. This method of thinking isn’t easy on the originality factor either, considering the plethora of artwork from all kinds of movements that you have available to you at any moment, however, it also means that no art is entirely unique, it is either a result of an action in the artist life (whether that would be societal changes or personal life) or its the experimentation of combining existing styles and inspirations.
This concept changed everything for me. Firstly, it removed the pretentiousness that most art comes with, as it is in favor of the idea that no art is truly perfect and no artist is entirely original. Secondly, this opens up new roads for exploration since the pressure has alleviated. I am now able to go on Pinterest and observe the ideas and passion one has put into their work. It is a beautiful thing to be able to witness so many young artists creating themselves a platform. All of this being said, it is also important to understand that being too inspired can easily lead to copying artworks which should be no one’s intention. Regardless, for now, you will find me at the Kunstmuseum, figuring out how to live in the boundless spiritual realm that Hilma af Klint has so masterfully created.
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