Sometimes the art world, including myself and this blog, can take themselves just a wee bit too seriously.  We agonize over what we want to SAY with our work, it just has to mean something deep and intellectual and philosophical, doesn’t it?  Or does it??  What’s that you say?  Some artists create just because its fun?  You’re telling me this is supposed to be fun?   All kidding aside, I do love it when I discover an artist who is creating just for the sheer joy and experimentation of it.  In her own words, Portland artist Mana Morimoto states “I simply love making thread beams come out of people’s eyes!“

As it does for so many of us, the act of creating began as therapy for Morimoto, and the joy she found in what she discovered to be a talent is evident in the humor seen in each piece. I wrote a bit last week about art as catharsis and I do believe for myself and so many others, it does provide a non-verbal way of working out what’s going on inside our heads.  Or sometimes, it simply provides our minds, hands, and spirits with enough of an enjoyable distraction to put things into perspective.