A painting is a symbol for the universe. Inside it, each piece relates to the other. Each piece is only answerable to the rest of that little world. So, probably in the total universe, there is that kind of total harmony, but we get only little tastes of it.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that art mirrors the interconnectedness of the universe, with each element influencing the others in harmony.
Corita Kent's quote reflects the idea that a painting serves as a microcosm of the universe, where every element is interdependent and contributes to a larger harmony. Just as each brushstroke in a painting relates to the whole, so too do the components of the universe interact to create a cohesive existence. While we may only experience fragments of this harmony in our lives, art offers a glimpse into the profound connections that exist within the universe.
In practice
In a discussion about the meaning of art in society.
In this speedy world of ours when facts are multiplying rapidly and giant rearrangements are happening all around us, it seems dangerous to be made nervous by the new - to want what we can never have, to want things not to be rearranged. It would be better to be able to take the leap, which is to be able not only to live with change and newness, but even to help make it.
It is a huge danger to pretend that awful things do not happen. But you need enough hope to keep going. I am trying to make hope. Flowers grow out of darkness.
I alter some things, eliminate and try again until I am satisfied. Then begins the mental working out of this material in its breadth, its narrowness, its height and depth.
I'm enamored with the art world. Anytime you look at anything that's considered artistic, there's a commercial world around it: the ballet, opera, any kind of music. It can't exist without it.
Making a movie and not directing the little moments is like drinking a soda and leaving the little slurp puddle for someone else.
But when I went on the stage to do a show, I would put on makeup because I felt that it enhanced my act; it drew attention to what I was doing.
I like to be buttoned onto tradition. The thing is to improve it, twist it and mold it; to make something new of it; not to deny it. The riches of history can be plucked at any point.
Dai Vernon, the greatest sleight of hand figure in the history of the art, rarely performed. But he invented magic and had an enormous influence on the whole range of sleight of hand. And so often, the magic he was doing was to fool other magicians.
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