What's in a Name?
I am rarely asked about the name I have given to my art. I hope the reason for this is because people intuitively understand what I mean by Paper Meditations but I would like to take this opportunity to expand on how and why the name came about.
I had created paper art for more than a decade before coming up with a unique moniker. I wanted something that would reflect the uniqueness of my pieces with the least amount of explanation. Part of my process to come up with a name required that I create a list of words that could apply to my artwork so I brainstormed synonyms for things like "art","paper",and "beauty". I don't know exactly what made me think of "meditations" but it really struck a chord with me and it didn't take long for me to recognize how well it fit my artwork.
One reason I liked it so much had to do with my first pieces. I made them by folding, taping and gluing sheets of computer paper together. I wanted people to to feel connected to my art though their familiarity with this medium and to draw them in and have them contemplate (meditate) on how the pieces were created. Of course, I hoped the pieces would stand alone as intriguing but I also wished for my viewers to enjoy the added fun of figuring out how I may have folded the paper or put them together.
Another reason that the word "meditation" struck a chord with me was that I recognized that it was a huge part of my artistic process. Playing with paper is meditative. Well, at least for me it is! In addition, my process continues with more meditation and contemplation on how to proceed with an idea and how to reach a final piece.
Lastly, I am personally very interested in meditation because it relates to "living in the moment". I came to understand what this means by reading two books by Elisha Goldstein ; The NOW Effect and Uncovering Happiness. Having applied some of these techniques to my own life has made me a big proponent of the idea of "living in the moment". It may sound a bit "out there" and unbelievable but it isn't. You may think that you have to train yourself to think "happy thoughts" but it isn't like that at all. It's more about acknowledging the thoughts that you have and knowing what to do with those thoughts. In any case, a physical reminder, like my art, is a helpful strategy for bringing those thoughts to the here and now.
As you can see, I had a lot of good reasons to choose the word "meditations" for my art and now I hope you have an even greater understanding of Paper Meditations. Was my explanation what you had thought? Leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to hear from you!
I had created paper art for more than a decade before coming up with a unique moniker. I wanted something that would reflect the uniqueness of my pieces with the least amount of explanation. Part of my process to come up with a name required that I create a list of words that could apply to my artwork so I brainstormed synonyms for things like "art","paper",and "beauty". I don't know exactly what made me think of "meditations" but it really struck a chord with me and it didn't take long for me to recognize how well it fit my artwork.
One reason I liked it so much had to do with my first pieces. I made them by folding, taping and gluing sheets of computer paper together. I wanted people to to feel connected to my art though their familiarity with this medium and to draw them in and have them contemplate (meditate) on how the pieces were created. Of course, I hoped the pieces would stand alone as intriguing but I also wished for my viewers to enjoy the added fun of figuring out how I may have folded the paper or put them together.
Another reason that the word "meditation" struck a chord with me was that I recognized that it was a huge part of my artistic process. Playing with paper is meditative. Well, at least for me it is! In addition, my process continues with more meditation and contemplation on how to proceed with an idea and how to reach a final piece.
Lastly, I am personally very interested in meditation because it relates to "living in the moment". I came to understand what this means by reading two books by Elisha Goldstein ; The NOW Effect and Uncovering Happiness. Having applied some of these techniques to my own life has made me a big proponent of the idea of "living in the moment". It may sound a bit "out there" and unbelievable but it isn't. You may think that you have to train yourself to think "happy thoughts" but it isn't like that at all. It's more about acknowledging the thoughts that you have and knowing what to do with those thoughts. In any case, a physical reminder, like my art, is a helpful strategy for bringing those thoughts to the here and now.
As you can see, I had a lot of good reasons to choose the word "meditations" for my art and now I hope you have an even greater understanding of Paper Meditations. Was my explanation what you had thought? Leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to hear from you!
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