ADRÉNUS CRATON

My life's work is a series of interpretations of the Seven Sins and Seven Virtues which makes up the "Battle of the Soul" collection. As of late, I have been thinking about how far I would go to articulate and share with you a new artistic expression I've since discovered. As always, the inspiration strikes whilst researching Plato and his plethora of thoughts and ideas. One particular moment of research (indulging in his commentary on art in one of his writings called, The Republic) sparked the writing of what would be the beginning of my very own dissertation on the discovery and exploration of an entirely new artistic expression. 

An article by Isley Unruh, encapsulated the way I wanted to communicate Plato’s thoughts and ideas on art. Art is something that has stood the test of time, dating back to... forever. Art has existed for as long as humankind has (if not longer), from our caveman ancestors’ pre-historic art murals until today’s contemporary art museums—so, no big deal, right?  We live to grow and expand and connect. So, I said to myself, “Adrénus, grow and expand and connect.”

I will attempt to relay how Plato's work has saturated all of my own work over the past two and a half decades—and even still, presently.

Plato

As a child, I was introduced to Plato and his teachings very early on. We had a library full of Encyclopedia Britannica's volumes of pages, and all the great philosophers. Like Plato, who questioned art’s place in society, Socrates who questioned the rationality of poetry, and Aristotle & Kant, who both questioned the meaning of art. Of all the dialogs written, something about Plato’s writings resonated deep within me, even though I could barely comprehend what I was reading — it just felt like something familiar. So, in order to get myself in a creative mood, I remember I would go to our bookshelf, pick out one of Plato’s books and start absorbing everything I read.

At age 14, I began referring to my art as “Platonic Art” whenever I was asked what kind of art do I do. At age 17, I held my 1st self-curated solo show in my home town entitled, Platonic Art | Perfection Found Within Imperfection. And everyone would look at me sideways and ask, “What is that?” What is Platonic Art?” And I would be like, “I don’t know.” I really didn’t know. It just was. ————Fast forward two and a half decades to this year, 2019, I finally got it. An explanation to that question, “What is Platonic Art?” (which I’ll share soon, bear with).

In The Republic, one of Plato’s greatest essays on what a perfect community should look like and how it should govern itself, he talked a lot about the arts. In so many words, he did actually say that art had no place in the world (in the republic). He actually made it clear where he stood in relation to the arts in his perfect community—but not for reasons most can relate to or believe in, or even agree with.

Theory of Forms

Plato’s essay brings up a binary, double-edged criticism of the arts. On one side of it, which is the more interesting and relevant aspect that speaks to my work and this new artistic expression, is based on his metaphysical analysis on the effect of art. His conclusions were based on his Theory of Forms, which is, in essence, what he felt the true nature of reality to be. For Plato, the true nature of our reality exists in higher realms as perfect non-physical Forms. And these perfect non-physical Forms take the shape of everything we see and experience in our imperfect physical world. So, that would mean that our physical reality is only an imitation or a shadow of what exists in those higher realms. Plato reasoned that because art was being created in reflection of everything seen in our physical reality, then this art was a representation of a “lesser than true” truth. It seems as thought he felt this type of art had no integrity to the Forms which they were meant to be in imitation of.

The key to understanding Plato’s portrayal of the arts, lies in actually understanding his narrative — his ideas surrounding the true nature of reality. This manner of thinking seems to highlight his reasons for “condemning the arts” as they existed in The Republic. For Plato, if someone who was unaware of the Forms in other realms would be making art, that would essentially be making an imitation of an imitation. But for a philosopher (the only person he felt could have such knowledge of Forms) would not create imitations of imitations. Rather, they would create / imitate after the Forms themselves, thus establishing a direct connection with truth.

The only issue here, was that Plato didn’t exactly envision “the philosopher” to be a common member of society, such as “the artist”. When translated today, it could have been a simple case of elitism on his part, that made him appear to be condemning the arts as a whole, when in actuality, what he could have been only condemning the lack of perceived truth that art possessed when created in reflection of “an imitation of an imitation of Form” instead of in reflection of Form itself.

Philosopher Artist

Ultimately, Plato thought that art was best left to those who were the wisest of the wisest philosophers, which leads some to say that his thoughts on art were the result of some abstract thought experiment. But I say, it’s time to look a little closer, and we may see some truth to it all.

The idea of the philosopher-artist—a combination of philosopher, who was in the elite class, versus the artist, who was of the simple masses, was briefly touched on by Plato. But, it was left undeveloped… until just now. I’d like to think of it as simply picking up where he left off, or borrowing from our conscious collective, our universal “one” mind. However, just as he was quite fond of allowing the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, I too shall now give it to you, to be intrigued to express your own.

What is 'Platonic Art'

Platonic art would be described as the new expression of Forms in direct connection to truth as it exists in higher realms. It uses method painting techniques (which up until the 20th century had never been clearly defined) to create bodies of work that represent shadows of concepts that exist only in the realm of Forms, specifically, in the realm of ideas where our human-fueled, five senses are no longer real. According to Plato’s Theory of Forms, he merely scratched the surface to what he felt was the true nature of our existence — in short, it being our perfect non-physical Forms in higher realms, which have taken the shape of our imperfect physical reality. By the first century of the 3rd millennium, a new breed of artists are beginning to vibrating towards these Forms, some of which are existing on 5th dimensional frequencies. This new breed of artists feel a need to create high vibrational art which are assisting in raising the vibrations of the entire planet—to the frequency of love.

What Is Method Painting

Method painting would be described as a technique in which a painter achieves complete emotional identification with an art piece they are creating, usually to the point of unrestricted artistic obsession.

It is based on the understanding of The Flower of Life pattern, an ancient series of shapes comprising the basic template for everything in existence, as well as all geometric forms within it (including sacred geometry shapes like the Platonic Solids and Metatron’s Cube).

Notably, The Flower of Life symbolizes our formation, reminding us of our connection to all that exists, and it supports that everything is built by the same blueprint. Method painting is particularly associated with renowned painters such as Yayoi Kusama, and lesser known painters such as myself.

How is 'Platonic Art' High Vibrational

I believe 'Platonic Art' can be achieved through method painting techniques and seen as another way into the future, in terms of re-developing our human connections and eventually, advancing forward together as One.

Reclaiming Love

While volunteering at my local art gallery some time ago (when I was a signed artist there), a woman came to visit. We had just placed my oversized oil piece in the spot where it is pictured in the photo below. After observing the executive director of the gallery taking the woman on a tour of all the artists displayed, she asks to come back to my art piece. This one is entitled, "Patience" from Battle of the Soul (BOS) Collection, METAMORPHOSIS Series.

We started a conversation, standing in front of the painting. She spoke about her husband that had recently passed away, less than 6 months ago. She was saying how everyone had been telling her to get back out there and find love again, but she was still unsure. She expressed surprise that she was remembering her husband at the most unexpected moments, like this one, standing in the middle of an art gallery talking to a stranger.

We turn to the painting and she asks me to explain it, because for some reason she was feeling drawn to it. I happily launched into a long explanation of how all the words and phrases contained in the painting were written on paper squares, and kept in the ancient Tibetan Singing Bowl beneath it. The purpose is to choose randomly from the paper squares with the words or phrases written on them, and then have the energy from the papers guide you to the words in the painting. Once you find the words, you make the bowl sing by striking it with its mallet.

So, she closes her eyes, reaches into the bowl and pulls out a paper square with the word, "REMEMBER" and immediately her eyes fill with tears, but she searches the canvas. After a few minutes, she finds it and rings the bowl. She asks to do another. And this time she pulls a card that reads, "RECLAIM LOVE" ... She smiles, and then starts to cry, saying she felt like she received an important message. She goes to return the papers to the bowl, but I tell her to keep them, as a reminder. And then we both cried together. 

Later, I remember thinking, wow, art can be such a powerful thing. Human connection is such a powerful thing. Sharing is a powerful thing. Just the act of BE'ing is powerful. (being yourself, being vulnerable, being creative)

This is why I make art.

The Way

A woman and I were chatting at The Assemblage, where I had my art debut. Stefaniya is pictured in the photos below. We connected right away, and it felt like I'd known her forever.

I was preparing to collect the painting to bring back to my studio when she began asking questions about it. As usually, joy overcomes me as I try to explain it. Standing closer, she chooses a paper square from the ancient Tibetan sound bowl. She flips the piece of paper over, looks at it and laughs as she covers her mouth with her other hand in disbelief. I'm standing next to her excitedly waiting to hear what she is experiencing.

She looks at me and back at the card, and says, "ah! 'The Way' ... that is my name. My name is Stefaniya Way.

It was another beautiful moment of connection with another incredible Being of Light.