Does My Art Need to Have Meaning?
If you’re an artist, you may wonder whether or not your art should have some “deep meaning” to it or not. There isn’t a right or wrong way to go about making art, however. You may find something that is so beautiful that you just have to paint it, and that’s it. Or, you may have an idea that you want to express through your art. Either way, there is no wrong answer. No matter what you chose, other people will always interpret your art differently, so in many cases, this “deep meaning” that you think you have to have is objective and really only the meaning that you believe your piece is showcasing.
Making Art Just to Make Art
One side of this is that art shouldn’t have meaning, and that art can be simply for you to enjoy the process of making art. It’s like if you were a kid drawing with crayons; you are making art without a real meaning or purpose, simply to enjoy the process of drawing. As an artist, I find that it is important to me to sometimes just make art because I want to. It doesn’t have to be meaningful or creative or even good. Of course, it can be difficult to do this sometimes, but letting go of perfection allows us to have fun, which is what art should be all about!
Beauty Over Meaning
Another way to go about this is to make art to showcase something that you find is beautiful. This could be anything that you want it to be. Maybe you take a picture and just simply want to paint it. Sometimes, this can be interpreted later on as meaningful even if your intent wasn’t to make it such. Creating art like this is also important for artists and make them more passionate about their artwork.
Meaningful Art
An art piece having meaning or purpose can also be interpreted differently depending on the artist. Do you want your artwork to express an idea vaguely, leaving the viewer to interpret it on their own? Or do you want your artwork to be loud and have a clear message? An example of this is the drawing that I did of an endangered bird species which was meant to have a fairly clear message. And of course, it’s okay if you attempt to show a clear idea through your art and other people view it differently!
In my opinion, artists should experiment with all of these types of art! If you end up preferring one over the others, then stick to that if you want to. So, if you want your art to have meaning, then go for it! If not, and you either want to just enjoy the process or make something beautiful, no one is stopping you. Art has no rules, so make your art however you want to make it.