“my computer is my horse” – isabella’s artist statement

an image of murnay by kandinskyyesterday, sarah luczaj talked about her experience of the connection between therapy and creativity. today it’s my turn. i dug up an artists’ statement i wrote three years ago, and which still holds true.

i write and perform poems, and as a counsellor, i accompany people on their journey as they perform the art of living their lives.

what materials do you use?
the materials i use are my body and soul and mind, my voice, my eyes, my ears, my hands; i use a computer and pens and paper.

how do you use these materials?
i use my soul to sense the numinous and the intangible; my intuition is a tool of soul. i use my mind and soul to understand, to make connections. i use my mind to analyze and to articulate. i use my voice to talk in many ways – quiet, loud, asserting, questioning. i use my voice to laugh. i use my eyes to read (faces, situations, letters) and to see beauty, and simply to appreciate. i use my ears to hear and listen. i use my hands to touch, to write, and to gesticulate. and my computer is my horse, just like my forebears needed horses to do anything important in their lives. i love the feel of pen on paper.

what is your work about?
the centre of my work is the word. i play with word to listen, understand, talk and write. word is the way in which i mostly interact with others. i see word as a medium, not just as a vehicle to shuttle bits of information back and forth. word is a sensuous medium, it has visual and auditory shape, it carries vibration. every word, as it is pronounced, has a certain feel in the mouth, in the chest, in all of the body. word has connotations, and they shimmer and scintillate, always right there, always out of reach. i love the paradox of word. oh, and the things that happen when we string words together into songs and sentences!

who are important influences on your work?
important influences are dostoevsky, dr. seuss, and e.e. cummings, and the german novelist/playwright franz xaver kroetz; psychotherapists virginia satir, andrew feldmar and scott miller; musicians/composers bach, bob marley, glenn gould, and miles davis; and among visual artists, kandinsky, picasso, and my father, the german painter, juergen von huendeberg.

what they have in common is a fierce and focused passion that drives their work, and the ability and desire to speak to their audience without compromising the quality of their art. however, these are only the ones that come to mind easily, right here, right now – i am deeply grateful to the continuous flow of inspiration that comes to me from artists of any discipline, in any form and shape.

where does the spark come from?
one of the most important things in my life is to be open to that voice and feeling that is deep inside me – to be open to it, to hear it, really hear it, and to respond to it. that voice is the spark of life, the voice of original creativity, and it forms my core. it is the numinous, the divine, the mystical.

when i interact with the more formal manifestations of the divine, it is easiest for me to go to buddhism, to my lutheran roots, to pagan ritual, and to remember the philosophy of 12-step programs.

the image of kandinsky’s painting of a street in murnau, a little town in bavaria, is courtesy of dalbera

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