The Importance of Arts, Culture & The Creative Process
Art helps me love people. Everyone looks beautiful when they are dancing. The process of creating art invites one to explore themselves, their values, instincts, and aesthetics and develop sensitivity as to how we interact with the world around us. Viewing art invites audiences to be curious about other perspectives. Through art, we can better understand how and why people do what they do. It develops our sensitivity to subtext and context. Art enhances empathy for ourselves and each other.
What was the inspiration for your creative work?
I, like so many artists through the ages, found creative refuge in a Church when I was invited to be an artist in residence on the beautiful campus of St. John’s Church in the West Village of New York City. I am not a religious person, but I was moved by the intentionality of that space. I could feel how so many people had come to this space and invested it with prayers, hopes, dreams, grief, and celebration. Inspired by these ghosts and the shimmering acoustics, I spent hours deep into the night composing music on electric guitar with a myriad of looping and effects pedals. It was here I wrote the hypnotic song Mutant Gifts and invited Brent Arnold and the resonant warmth of his cello to join me.
