Mark Stolarski has been producing one painting a day in preparation for his first art exhibit in Toronto. Excited and passionate about his creative output, he explains why he paints: "When I get anxious, I paint."
His statement might seem prosaic until one realizes that Mark has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, developmental delay and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Writer Diane Flacks, in a special article to the Toronto Star, states that such disabilities may impair a person's ability to communicate, but painting allows him or her to express feelings freely and by doing so, becomes a connecting force.
It also becomes a healing force, dissolving the chasm created by emotional issues. According to Dr, John Diamond M.D., the role of the artist-healer or the healer as artist is to reveal this basic truth - "that we are at last whole."
Herein lies the spirituality of art - its ability to raise what Dr. Diamond calls "life energy," the vitality that emerges in a being at one with itself, living in harmony with nature, community and God.
Healing is Not the Curing of Disease, but the Release of Life Energy
The Chinese call it Qi; the Yogis call it Prana. By whatever name, life energy is evident in a body that is balanced and whole. Energy practitioners see it as a force that flows continuously from one meridian to another in a certain sequence. In his book, Your Body Doesn't Lie, Dr. Diamond claims that "95 percent of the general population tests low on the life energy scale." Reasons include stress, negative thoughts and emotions, poor diet. Illnesses begin with the dissolution of life energy.
Healing is not the curing of disease but the release of the "dis-ease of the soul," the anguish man feels when he is not one with life. When anguish is overcome, however, man activates life energy, the spirit within which allows him to embrace passionately and wholeheartedly all of life, including physical and emotional challenges.
These problems will not disappear, but in those moments when man is engaged in artistic endeavors, his life energy is raised and he comes closer to transcendence, a form of deep play, the ability to go beyond the self, the ego and become part of a harmonized whole. This suggests that the primary purpose of art, then, is to love and embrace the spirit that runs through all things.
In some cases, the goal of art is not to escape from life, but to appreciate wholly whatever life brings, be it benevolent or painful.
The Thymus Gland is Activated By Art
How does art increase life energy?
It does so through the thymus gland seated in the upper part of the chest cavity, behind the sternum. This is the first organ to be affected by stress. It is also the first organ to be affected by emotional fluctuations. The word "thymus" is derived from the Greek word "thymos" which denotes life force, soul, feeling and breath. It is clearly aligned with spiritual energy that comes from a well-balanced body.
Once thought to be useless, the thymus gland is now known to be directly related to the body's immunity. Children whose thymus glands have been removed never fully develop their immune system and become susceptible to all kinds of infections.
Actions that stimulate the thymus gland are creative endeavors that balance the two hemispheres of the brain. According to Dr. Diamond, both hemispheres should be working in harmony at all times. Creative endeavors like art, activities like walking or running in which you engage opposite arms and legs are best for stimulating the thymus.
If the "thymus is stimulated, the two hemispheres will also tend to be balanced...making us creative, enabling us to experience life in the whole..."
Art, like the reading of poetry, balances the two hemispheres of the brain. Even looking at landscape paintings in a gallery or museum, "particularly the works of Turner" can mobilize the thymus and the balancing act.
Looking at line drawings, photographs or raw nature, however, may not provide the same results because the balancing depends on the ability of the viewer to "abstract certain qualities from [nature], which is ...what a good painter has already done for us," according to Diamond.
In the juxtaposition of colors and lines on canvass, Mark Stolarski has taken steps towards the restoration of balance. In the words of Dr. Diamond, he has activated his thymus gland. Despite his mental challenges, he has used the language of painting to connect himself with the world; he has become whole. And therein lies the spirituality of art.
Source:
Diamond, John.M.D. Your Body Doesn't Lie ( New York: Warner Books, 1979).
Flacks, Diane. "Inner Treasures: Artists with Mental Challenges Use the Language of Painting to Express Themselves and Connect with the World." The Toronto Star, February 27, 2010, L10.
Mary Desaulniers - I am a retired teacher and grandmother looking forward to the next 30 or more years with great relish and enthusiasm. My passions are ...
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