Wabi-Sabi
Create beauty. Value imperfection. Live deeply.
Author Artist Yvette Michele
Imperfection is the basic principle of Wabi-Sabi, the Japanese philosophy of accepting your imperfections and making the most of life. “Wabi” is said to be defined as “rustic simplicity” or “understated elegance” with a focus on a less-is-more mentality. “Sabi” is translated to “taking pleasure in the imperfect.”
I once thought that I needed to no longer embrace my life as it were before shifting to becoming an artist.
I learned and still learning everyday that I was wrong.
My personal Wabi-Sabi is titled Perspectives. This is artistic abstract MashUp and an intertwining of my path of self discovery through technology. This exploration is visually represented in its artistic mediums poured acrylics and technology.
Perspectives is an integral component to a greater body of work titled “Collective Intelligence”. For many years I found myself purposely keeping my experiences in Science and Technology separated from my art expression. I felt as if my whole story could not be told and that I should only speak of one without mentioning the other. It was through a specific interaction and challenge with a collector to see both worlds as an expression of my narrative and to publicly embrace it in my story. This is where collective intelligence was born.
It was an immediate spark that this is who I am as a person, an artist and as a human spirit. The shared or group intelligence found the technical definition along with collaboration, competition and decision making was the appropriate life metaphor to create my own definition from an artist perspective.
My sum total of knowledge, professional endeavors, self-discoveries, life journeys that were born out of collaboratives, competition, decision making and mentorships is this Collective Intelligence. It is a way for me to continuously mash all of my worlds into a life body of work represented in segments of the se experiences . This is the way for me to live deeply.
My Soul sings when I am creating something new from something otherwise disposed of. Then I discovered Wabi-Sabi and this life principle of valuing imperfections.
The title to the work above is "Scratched Disc".
It is comprised of disc drive parts and old headphones. You know the ones that you get on the airplane. I had been on so many flights that I kept throwing them in drawers.
The connectors are almost obsolete for any device that one may personally use. I was blessed with the frame from an artist friend. It has a lot of imperfections; scratches, scuffs, and missing elements seen in chips. I originally thought I could make it new again. But it is something about it that touched my soul in a way that is familiar.
It is as if I can hear the stories and the grandeur of the art it once surrounded, and its new happiness to adorn something modern, new but also discarded. This was a perfect match to my own imperfections in thinking I could split myself .
To see this work click here
If you would like to learn more about Wabi-Sabi and how it applies to life. I have added this titles to my reading list.
Find value in the imperfect, the handmade, the uncomplicated.
Wabi sabi is an ancient Japanese aesthetic that emphasizes the value of simple things as a path to harmony. In Wabi Sabi Simple, author Richard R. Powell explains this intriguing Eastern philosophy in easy-to-understand terms to help you find peace and truth throughout nature and apply it to all facets of your life-at work, at home, and in your relationship
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Some items contained in this blog that are not produced by Yvette Michele earn commissions for purchases. These items are are recommended independently .