Order Out Of Chaos

An arrangement of beach pebbles.

I feel like you can put artists into two fundamental categories: Those who strive to make order out of chaos, and those who disrupt the current order.

I definitely feel that I fit into the latter category.

I look at the world around me, the cacophony of colors, textures, shapes, forms, etc. and try to organize it in a way that pleases me. I look at a scene, use my brain to picture the ideal representation of it as I see it, and using paints I present it for consumption by those who appreciate the way I view things.

If you’re an artist reading this, it may sound pretty matter-of-fact. But look at it this way: if you’re not an artist, this sounds like magic. Don’t ever forget that we are doing a special thing.

The real question about it is: why does it matter that we do this?

Well, in a day and age where things feel increasingly off-kilter, a world where things are increasingly accelerating towards who-knows-what, and the current state of society feels like a race to an aesthetic bottoming out, people are feeling increasingly lost, anxious, and desperate. As artists, we have an opportunity to restore some sort of order to our little corners of the world.

I don’t think we necessarily have to set out to change the whole world on our own, however noble that may feel. Start with yourself; continue to create order and present it to those that are around you. Most won’t care; they just won’t understand what you are doing, or why it matters. However, there will be some folks who will come across you painting something they’ve seen a million times and never saw the beauty of it until you show it to them through your eyes. And they’ll thank you for it. They may even love it so much they want to own that token of beauty you created.

And for now, that’s all you really need to do.

Speaking of painting things you hope people will care about: I’m participating in this year’s plein air invitational event presented by the Sausalito Center For The Arts. I’ll be showing my work online here, and in person at the end of the week. Here is the work I made last year.

If you’re in the area and want to check out the show, I’ll give you the details at the end of the week. Hope to see you then!

-Sergio