One might think, with reason, that a place like Paris draws creatives and inspires art because it is so beautiful, has such a richness of art history and is such an exciting place to be, with so many things to do. This is exactly what I was thinking, coming here to pursue the next steps in my creative ideas. However, a new thought has been floating in my mind the last few days, that perhaps, it’s the opposite. Is it the beauty that inspires more beauty, or is it the contrast with the harshness of reality that calls out the beautiful from within?
The very first thing that really struck me when arriving here was this type of contrast. Arriving in my neighborhood in the center of Paris the view that greeted me was the gorgeous Haussmannian style architecture rising up into a soft blue sky with puffy white clouds, yet right under my balcony window a badly injured house-less man lay on the cement being pecked at by pigeons without moving. These two things coexisting in one line of sight was mind numbing. Every street corner, every boulevard, the same kinds of contrasts… It never gets easier to swallow. With this kind of stress, your ability to take in what’s around you, day in and day out, begins to shut down. Maybe your amazement at the incredible city dwindles, or you stop feeling anything when you see a whole family camped out on the sidewalk. Whatever gets you through the day moment by moment. As the ever adaptable human mind normalizes whatever is in its environment very quickly, you end up with a myriad of reactions that haven't been processed. It’s the over-stimulus, the filling up of body and heart with intense feelings and thoughts that need to be acknowledged and done something with, that pushes one to create.
The need to feel what asks to be felt, to be seen for what you see, to put out what you’ve taken in. Is this not what moves the artist to create? This initial impression of the city I have described to you, left me feeling sick; immediately doubting whether coming here would be good for me. And yet, exactly what I wanted from this new experience is slowly starting to happen; I am beginning to feel the need to create. It’s pushing out through the surface because it can’t be bottled up inside. Desperation alongside inspiration. The Contrast creates.
