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Show Me Your Walls and I’ll Tell You Who You Are
Why are we drawn to certain art? Discover how the pieces that stop you in your tracks reveal something deeper about who you are and who you're becoming.
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Show me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are. We’re all familiar with this saying. But what if I said: let me look at what’s hanging on your wall, and I’ll tell you who you are?
Why do some pieces stop us in our tracks while others float past us without notice? I’ve been thinking about this lately, both as someone creating art and as someone drawn to certain work. Why do we choose the pieces we choose?
We Look for Our Own Reflections
Here’s what I’m discovering: we look for our own reflections. We find ourselves in the art, and that’s what speaks to us.
I’ve been painting the journey of finding light. Looking back, this is what my life has been about lately – spiritual, inward-focused, quiet. So painting soft light, gentle florals, and feminine grace made sense. This is what I wanted to create, and this is what I was drawn to when looking at other artists’ work.
My latest piece is an abstract focused on healing energy – coming to life, blooming, awakening. Endless energy streams and sprouts emerging. It’s about looking deeper within yourself and discovering a hidden layer, something you didn’t know existed, that reveals its inner beauty.
This Is How We All Experience Art
But here’s the interesting part: this isn’t just how artists work. This is how we all experience art.
Try this: Look at your walls right now. Really look at what you’ve chosen to live with. Does it resonate with who you are today? Does it reflect something you’re moving toward or something you’ve outgrown?
Then, over the next week, start making mental notes each time you look at a piece of art – in a gallery, online, in a friend’s home. Notice how you feel. Notice how you react. Then ask yourself why.
What is it about that landscape that made you pause? What feeling does that portrait stir in you? What memory or longing or recognition does it touch?
These reactions aren’t random. They’re breadcrumbs leading you to understand yourself better. The art that stops you in your tracks is showing you something about who you are or who you’re becoming.
Finding Yourself Through What You See
An artist’s job is to find themselves through their art. Maybe a collector’s journey is similar – finding yourself through what you choose to see, what you choose to live with, what you can’t stop thinking about.
Artwork featured in this post:
