Art Reveals Personality

I do believe one of the most beneficial aspects that art can give us is a platform for self analysis after the completion of any singled-out creation.  After having collected thousands of works of art done by people in a variety of moods and ways, from 30 second stick figure portraits, to sitting down with a bag of colored pencils and staying for hours, what I’ve found is that it is impossible to escape the reflection of your personality in art.  

It is striking how many different ways one can scribble randomly on a page.  It is equally striking that those that tend to scribble, tend to scribble on the next page, with a very similar way down to the curves of the line, and the sporadic shapes that form–like a signature.  When made conscious of this, it changes, sure, but little.  

A Poem from Mexico

I shall explain a recent example and self-analysis done just this morning.  After rereading an old poem of mine done two and half years ago, I was able to see it in a different light, almost as a different me–almost–and was able to dissect and witness a vulnerable part of my personality or ego, or whatever we choose to call it.  The poem was a love poem inspired by my then-girlfriend during my stay in the Yucatán, titled “I’ve lost myself within you.”   

The poem goes on to say that:

‘Dancing is only dancing–

Singing is only singing–

The very act of waking to face existence 

is only waking to face existence

With you.’

“Know Thyself”

I cringe as I imagine you reading this.  But I include it, which itself says something, however, one thing at a time.  What I quickly broke down was the passionate willingness to sacrifice self.  Which was very much what I was trying to do at the time.  I had flown to Mexico, to be with someone I ended up falling in love with, someone I wanted to build a future with, and to do so, I actively attempted to put my creative ambitions aside to build a closer relationship with her.  The energy being a sort of obsession for dissolution of self.  When I self-analyzed that further I came to see that it was something that I tended to do with everything, regardless of the activity whether love, ambition, or even being moral.

A very consequential energy.  

Something I currently feel very vulnerable with, heightened by my choice of sharing it. 

Something I should definitely work on moderating.  

But my personal growth aside, art allows for this to occur.  It frames not only moments, emotions, and thoughts, but as well, no matter how consciously your scribble, a reflection of self for the very fact that it is created at all.  

“Know thyself.”