Why Art For Me?

Why Art for Me?
Alfred N. Whitehead not only inspired my artistic creativity but also, disciplined my artistic process. I’m often engaged in many different artistic pursuits such as oil painting, ceramic art, architecture, and landscaping projects. What often inspires me throughout these pursuits is Whitehead’s belief that our environment nourishes our souls. He said, great art “is more than a transient refreshment. It is something which adds to the permanent richness of the soul’s self-attainment.”
As a trained architect, I see how a Whiteheadian God is also like an architect whose creativity provides the basis for cosmic order and delight. I sense all the way down to my bones, God’s cosmic design process, as Whitehead affirms: The Many Become One and are Increase by One. Each stone or brick is metaphysically essential and equally valuable to a whole building. And a built environment as a whole takes each part seriously in dynamic interaction with all of its surroundings. This dynamic integration and cooperation elevate it to become an architectonic whole.
Thus, art making, for me, is more than pleasure seeking. My biological and psychological senses are not positively engaged within stale interior spaces or dull exterior places. As such, I constantly seek to create environments that are soul-nourishing and ecological. For these, I keep searching for organic structure, metabolic pattern, sustainable growth, delightful living place where I can touch, smell, feel alive and engage fully. Such spaces are a vital source of my physiological well-being and sustenance. ~SS,0404/2021

* This oil painting was finished after the trip remembering a beachside scene near Half Moon Bay at Northern California.