The Power of Dreaming

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Imagination is the door to all new ideas and creations. I am an artist and I know this very well. But a quote by Pope Francis, printed in my parish church newsletter earlier this year, made me reflect further and consider what it means to imagine and dream BIG.

“We will never discover the special personal calling that God has in mind for us if we remain enclosed in ourselves, in our usual way of doing things, in the apathy of those who fritter away their lives in their own little world. We would lose the chance to dream big and to play our part in the unique and original story that God wants to write with us.”  

The words of Pope Francis seemed a little harsh to me. It led me to ask myself – am I frittering my life away making artwork that only a few people will see? Am I stuck in my own little world?

Every endeavor begins with a dream, followed by action. So, I began to wonder… what does a very big dream/action look like? 

The Cave of the Hands

The Cave of the Hands, Argentina is an example of a dream that took 7,000 years to be completed. It was made by blowing powdered pigment through a blowpipe to create stencilled handprints on the rock walls; created by many hundreds of people, probably women and children from 7,300 BC to 700 AD.  

The hands seem to reach out of the rock towards us from the past as if to say… “We greet you, spirit beings of the future… we are all one”.

Little Amal

Little Amal is an example of a big work of art that travelled on a very long journey. The Little Amal project was an undertaking in support of refugees. A 3.5 metre high giant puppet representing a Syrian refugee child; this living artwork walked 8,000 km across Europe in 2021.Wherever it went it received massive attention and emotional reactions.

My Bed, Tracy Emin

My Bed by Tracy Emin is a work of huge melancholic power. The story that Emin recalls is that she had been wallowing in a depressive state in her bed for several days when, on the way to the bathroom, she looked back and saw her bed transformed. The colours and sculptural forms of the bed, in her vision, became abstract, and she saw the whole suddenly as an instant and complete work of art.

Art is shamanic and transmutational. It changes both the energy of the artist and of the viewer of the art. For this reason it is, and always has been, a spiritual practice.

The moment of inspiration  which urges us to imagine, dream and create in the world is a gift from the Holy Spirit. I believe what Pope Francis was saying to me, and to us all, is to dream, create and act — and to do it with style!