We create meaning. And at the same time, there is a vast, unlimited expanse of what we cannot see, grasp, quantify, or describe.
Happy New Year to my dearest Doodle Soupsters!
So, what does it mean to be alive?
Whether it’s my abstracts, my emotional portraits, or my text-based works, these questions drive my creations ...
What does it mean to exist? What is the meaning of life?
I don’t know and yet I also do, and that’s kinda the point.
We create meaning. And at the same time, there is a vast, unlimited expanse of what we cannot see, grasp, quantify, or describe.
One of my goals is to provide some synthesis for this duality. We don’t have to know in order to find meaning, purpose, or joy in our existence. And we can choose to remain open to what’s unknown. Often, it’s that openness that leaves enough space for magic to happen, to feel touched by something that evades description. As if it’s too big to ever put into words.
Sometimes, I write about my spirituality and its role in my artwork. I happen to have been born Jewish yet I don’t feel tied to religion. I don’t feel the need to claim one idea or belief system as my own and the others as not my own. I respect all religions and also the choice not to participate in organized religion. In my experience, connection to the spiritual is very personal and can be found anywhere. I tend to feel that connection most through being alone in nature, through music, through making art, and dancing. Yet, I’ve also felt it at night walking city streets and in more than one kind of religious space.
Regardless, seeking this connection, questioning, doubting, praying in my own way, cultivating openness to what I don’t know … all of it has helped guide the way. For me, it feels more like a conversation than worship. I’m constantly observing, having moments to just be right here present with what’s here, asking questions. I’m not only creating my art while I’m in the studio. It’s my day to day life. It’s like breathing.
Maybe I felt self-conscious about saying this before ... maybe, it felt "too lofty" or "too crazy" or even just too simple .... but, it's not "too" anything ... it's the truth ... my art explores the meaning(s) of life ... creating meaning, finding meaning, observing life, questioning what it means to be alive, paying attention to existence, portraying the intricacies of being alive ....
And this feels important to me to share with you ✨ I don't know all the why's right now ... it just feels right ... I’ll leave you with one more question — what does existence mean to you?
With curiosity and love for existence,
Nicole Sylvia Javorsky
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