Why and how does a good piece of art affect us emotionally, mentally and spiritually? 
I have always been deeply touched by the Navajo blessing, ” May you walk in beauty”. Beauty, for the Navajo, means more than simply the arrangement of a sand painting or the aesthetic quality of one’s outer environment. It also includes the quality of one’s relationships with oneself as well as with one’s fellow humans, with animals and even with what we would call inorganic aspects of the environment. For the Navajo, the word “beauty” expresses the benevolent and harmonious quality of all relationships.
Like the Navajo, I believe beauty is about relationships, and also about the meaning found within those relationships. Meaning is significant connection. The work of art makes significant connections within itself and with the outside world so that the observer or listener can relate meaningfully with it as well, thus expanding his or her awareness in a way that would have been impossible or unlikely otherwise.
A great work of art is a human creation where the parts are purposefully arranged to support and enhance one another, but also where the whole that is the work of art connects meaningfully to things outside itself, thus becoming a part of larger systems within the greater culture. For the Navajo, all of life is a work of art that always includes nature and humanity both individually and as a group. Truly great art contains meaning not just for the culture from which it originated, but for the entire human condition. The greater the number of relationships, the more complex the interaction with the human observer or listener. And the greater the engagement of the observer or listener, the more profound and beautiful the piece.
A good photograph, for example, isolates a portion of the physical world, thus causing us to become aware of the internal relationships of the elements in the photo in a way that may not have been possible if we had been looking at the scene without the frame. The photographer is asking us to look at our surroundings in a new way, appreciating colors, relationships, juxtapositions, expressions, etc, that we could have missed otherwise. In other words, the work of art expands our consciousness with new meaning, whether that be appreciation for beauty not noticed before, humor, inspiration, insight, pathos, or sometimes even horror or disgust.
An artist creates environments where natural beauty can be more easily perceived and appreciated in new and different ways. An artist also creates beauty where there was none before, making a beautiful sculpture from rusted car parts, an abstract painting on a blank canvas or an incredible wall hanging from old fabric scraps. An artist can turn ugliness into grace and junk into heirlooms. An artist transforms our perceptions by pulling meaning out of thin air, then asking our consciousness to expand enough to take it in.
An artist sees beauty and significance in everything. An artist sees significance in harmony, but also in dissonance, in symmetry but also asymmetry, in light but also in dark, in perfection, but also in imperfection, as well as in the relationships between and among all of them. An artist sees these connections where others may not have seen it before, and asks us to participate as well.
This participation, and the expanded consciousness that results from it, ultimately nudges us into considering ourselves as complex works of art as well. Every human being is a masterpiece of meaningful relationships that is totally unique and like no other. But it often takes an artist to demonstrate this truth for each of us. It is our very imperfection that contributes to our greatest beauty. This is the difference between a handmade work of art and something made by machine. The mass produced item can be flawless if truly well made, but it is not a work of art because it is flawless.
A great work of art is priceless because it is unique. It contains certain asymmetries and flaws, conflicts and oppositions, individual flourishes and special quirks, which give it a riveting interest that holds our attention like nothing else. It contains relationships and conjunctions, order and coherence, insights and connections, that help us appreciate and understand the world in a new way. It engages us emotionally, mentally and spiritually and expands both our consciousness and very being by its existence.
Each of us is also a priceless work of art because each of us is a complex set of relationships like no other. But because most of us are not yet aware of it, we still often see ourselves as old fabric scraps or rusted car parts that are practically worthless. And any worth we do perceive usually comes from what we do in the world, not what we are.
A work of art doesn’t have to do anything. Its relationships and connections generate meaning and worth by its mere presence. Like scraps of cloth and rusted car parts, those things we call problems, crises or imperfections in our lives are the very elements that form the core of the masterpiece. As we expand our consciousness to appreciate art, we draw ever closer to the unique and precious beauty of our own being.
For each of us is both a unique bundle of meaningful and complex relationships, and a consciousness that is capable of expanding and creating in new and profound ways. As we come to appreciate the masterpiece of our own being, we awaken the artist/creator at the core of our own individuality who longs for expression.
And then we finally recognize ourselves as both a work of art and the artist who created it. Perhaps the true mystery of art lies in how much we are all integrally a part of that mystery.
For more on energy and energy reality, see my book “It’s All About Energy: Adventures in Expanded Reality”, available on Amazon, at local bookstores and on my website: wwwtransformationalexpansion.com