The human ego likes to label; it makes it think it’s in charge, that it has power. This is true in art as in other aspects of life.
The ego can’t help but looking for things to label – from good to bad and a thousand shades of grey in between. It does this by judging which is basically comparing and contrasting one particular thing to a lot of other things. It’s like creating a mental gang.
One label under the bad category is juvenile. I’ve done a few things lately that someone may call juvenile and I’ve learned a lot from these paintings, and I’ve had a lot of fun.
The word “juvenile” can be particularly cut-throat, like it’s the worst thing in the world one can be. It’s like saying Valdemoort or Satan or something. It’s so bad that I think it’s why a lot of people don’t try drawing or painting at all – and that’s pretty extreme. I mean, what we’re really talking about is ONE WORD stopping people from experiencing the joys of art. That’s pretty extreme; that’s pretty powerful.
Why does this word have so much power? How does it conjure up so much fear?
Words are more than words; they convey meaning, they build concepts, and as we grow older, we learn to trade in our woolly security blankets for the security of our self-concepts. Our concepts become more complex and sophisticated, but it is our security, nevertheless, and when a word challenges our self-concept, it is like tearing a hole in our security blanket.
The word “juvenile” is one of those words that seems to mean a lot; it packs a punch. It basically implies that there’s something wrong, something missing. That one should be more evolved than what is being displayed. I would argue that we are where we are; that you can’t judge a person by a painting, and we’re all evolving anyway. As an artist, we have to learn to honour our creations, no matter what stage we’re at. Plus, I would rather be an unskilled artist than being skilled in something else such as embezzling, robbing, hurting, insulting – you get the picture.
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