Art Brut: once we all had that inner child with us
Outsider masterpieces created in a "spiritual sanctuary" in Nanjing, China
When was the last time you felt urged to write, draw, or create something spontaneously, without any rules or specific purposes? Have you ever felt that it's incredibly difficult to draw or write WHATEVER you like as you grow up?
Recently, I encountered some truly amazing paintings that deeply touched me and helped me reconnect with the sense of lost "spontaneity". These paintings were created by individuals suffering from mental illness, and none of them have received any formal art training. They simply followed their untamed intuition. These artists paint at a non-profit institution in Nanjing called Nanjing Outsider Art Studio, which offers a safe space for people suffering from mental illness to use art as a therapy process and a means of communicating with the community.
To begin my newsletter post, I first want to showcase some of their work, as the paintings themselves convey more than words alone can. I will also include the bio and stories of the artists, along with the messages associated with each painting, which are quoted from the studio's WeChat account page.
Paintings by Liang Hua
Liang Hua was born in Nanjing in 1981. In 1998, while moving from the first to the second year of high school, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia due to the immense pressure from his studies. After barely graduating from high school, he worked for a few months selling health products but struggled to adapt and ended up staying at home. In September 2017, his mother approached our studio, hoping Liang Hua could paint here. She mentioned that his mental state was deteriorating at home and his relationship with his father was becoming increasingly strained. She hoped our studio could provide him with a relaxed and quiet environment. After coming to the studio, Liang Hua immersed himself in the free creation of outsider art, and his mental state improved significantly. Seeing such a big change in Liang Hua, his father said, “This studio is truly Liang Hua’s real home.”
Life and death are determined by fate; 2018.06.22 -- Liang Hua
"Humans are different from other beings; humans yearn for freedom. When you see a person with both hands and feet bound, placed on a boat meant for human sacrifice... Yes, they are to be offered in a ritual. Do you think life is meaningless? Life and death are dictated by fate."
The monster behind a fan with many eyes; 2018.11.16 -- Liang Hua
A monster grows many eyes. This monster is covered in blue and behaves perversely, and though it uses a fan to cover itself, it still observes visitors through the eyes peeking over the fan.
Paintings by Yang Chuanming
Chuanming, an artist at Nanjing Outsider Art Studio, full of joy and imagination, paints to share his lightweight world filled with dreams, vibrant colors, and a wide array of all living things. Chuanming often chatted with the studio staff, exuding an infectious, jovial energy:
"You are a person who suffers, I am a happy person, brother, if only we could switch places." — Chuanming said
"When we have money, we'll get a big villa, and for the brother with glasses (that's how he usually refers to me [the staff at the studio]), I'll give you a room." — Chuanming said
Chuanming likes many things: delicious food and fit bodies, gorgeous clothes and the world of anime. It seems he also has a fondness for the compound surnames often found in martial arts and romance novels. He gives everyone he knows a similar kind of name, a compound surname paired with the name of a food he likes, for example:
"Aisin Gioro. Roast Duck. Young Master Xiaobai."
The names of his paintings are similar, feeling as though they contain a lot within them, such as
"Gong Liang Braised Chicken, Poussin, Squid, Belt Fish, Xiaobai, Roasted Sausages, Roast Duck, Heat, and Many, Many Good Friends." — the staff at the studio said
Gong Liang Braised Chicken, Poussin, Squid, Belt Fish, Xiaobai, Roasted Sausages, Roast Duck, Heat, and Many, Many Good Friends. -- Yang Chuanming
Sometimes he paints in a style that seems gloomy to ordinary people, depicting graveyards and female ghosts. Often, people tell him his paintings are frightening, so sometimes he half-jokingly, half-ventingly says to me [the staff at the studio]:
"I'm going to paint a female ghost! Brother! I'm going to scare you to death! I'm going to paint a grave." — Chuanming said
Female Ghost -- Yang Chuanming
Chuanming told me that I could travel through various worlds via these cableways, including a world of death and a world of emptiness. I need to remember the sequence of the paths I take, the slogans corresponding to the gates of each world, the goddesses I can seek help from at critical moments, and the personalities of each goddess. — the staff at the studio said
World of Death — Yang Chuanming
Above is only a redacted translation of a conversation between Chuanming and a staff member at the studio. I've selected some of the works that impressed me and resonated with me personally, but I highly recommend everyone check out the original article for a complete showcase of the work by Yang Chuanming and Liang Hua. The original article is in Chinese, but I'm confident you'll manage with AI translation.
Art Brut: untamed and spontaneous talent
Nanjing Outsider Art Studio adopts the concept of "Art Brut" (translates as "raw art"), which is a term first invented by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe artworks that are made outside the academic tradition of fine art.
Dubuffet collected a vast array of graffiti art and works created by mental health patients, prisoners, children, and other "naïve" (untrained) artists, favoring their innocent, primitive visions and direct drawing techniques. Subsequently, he attempted to create works in their style and established the Art Brut Association (Compagnie de l’Art Brut) in 1948 to study Art Brut. Art Brut is also known as "Outsider Art."
The French artist Dubuffet rebelled against traditional art education and attacked the “suffocating” mainstream culture. He collected art from people without formal art training, children, and mental health patients, introducing the concept of "Art Brut" to describe self-taught, naïve, and aesthetically unaccepted art. He believed that this art, free from orthodox constraints, could more truthfully reflect the human spirit.
The Nanjing Outsider Art Studio, established in 2006, operates rooted in this philosophy but as a completely non-profit organization dedicated to creating an environment and resources to support the artistic potential of individuals with mental disorders and those in recovery. It aims to help these individuals integrate better into society and the community by showcasing their work. The founder's mission is to "create a spiritual sanctuary characterized by mutual understanding, respect, and tolerance."
It is one of the few private non-profit organizations dedicated to such a mission in China (way to go my hometown Nanjing!)
Once we all had that inner child with us
The more training we receive, the harder it becomes to rediscover that 'spontaneous' burst of creativity. The situation has haunted me for years, and I am so sure I'm not the only adult who feels like it's a struggle to write prose, improvise something on the keyboard, or pick up a pen and draw 'whatever' you want -- things we could easily do back in childhood. After years of training and education, it just becomes harder. Let's face it, “draw whatever” is even more difficult than “draw me a cat”.
In fact, that's a profound question -- what does it mean to really “create” something? What's the true essence of art, music, or other creative work? Is it the rigorous stroke taught in the classroom, or the spontaneous burst of creativity?
Perhaps it's a blend of both--after all, without discipline and training, creation would just be a meandering stream of thoughts, a burst of pure emotions. Training provides discipline, structure, and a logical pathway to develop your muscle memory.
But there is a certain balance -- training and discipline help us to communicate more universally. But that process also reduces the spontaneity and untamed talent that once resided within us — we once viewed the world as if no clear model could characterize it. We simply used our senses to connect and feel--and raw beauty gushed out as we conveyed what we sense in our 'native' way of expression.
I often think of artwork as another form of 'language' -- just like you learn English so you would be able to communicate with most people in the world, learning art creation through disciplined training also sets you up to create pieces that can resonate and be understood by the general audience who “speaks” the same language -- we know the sun is red, the moon is ivory, major chords evoke a sense of majestic confidence.
But the moment we use disciplined language to convey what we want, something is lost--it's like slicing a 3D cone to project it to a 2D surface, meaning that the moment we utter something, the original full meaning is reduced to just a snapshot. (Sorry this metaphor might be a bit elusive; it unfolds better in my head)
Since I was exposed to a systematic curriculum of music training (that was back in college), I have been questioning and thinking about what is the true essence of art. Before college, I would just jot down notes in my head, a motif, a short passage, or just record what I improvised on the piano. But then it became about music theories, counterpoints, forms, harmony progressions -- things that have a 'quasi-correct answer', which you can learn through repeated training.
I've had many friends ask me what it's like to learn 'composition', or what exactly you think when you 'compose' something. To the disappointment of many, the composition learning process in school is not as 'romantic' as many would associate with being a 'composer'. It feels much more like 'training' than 'creating', as you start learning by spending time writing short passages according to music theories, or following another composer and writing something in their style, harmony progression, and form (that's called model composition. Nowadays, an AI can probably do that faster than a composition student.)
We learned so many rules and disciplines while growing up that it becomes difficult to do anything "freely". Seeing the masterpieces created by the artists at the studio truly gives me a shot of refreshing inspiration. For that, I am deeply grateful for what the studio is dedicated to doing: not just serving as a healing sanctuary for patients in need but also creating an impact that resonates with me and perhaps many other adults who long for the lost 'spontaneity' that once resided within our inner child.
Instead of practicing what I need to practice, I think I'll carve out some time to simply strike a few chord clusters on my piano later today :) Just consuming whatever soundscape comes to me -- letting the colors and temperatures of the music wash over me, feeling them flow through my senses.
What do you think you'll do to reconnect with your spontaneous intuition? Let us know your ideas!
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