The importance of meditation in Becks’ abstract art
Hello Becks, who are you?
I am an intuitive self-taught abstract contemporary mixed media artist. Abstract art is something that I’ve always been drawn towards since I was a lil’ kid but as I grew older, my focus shifted towards humanitarianism. As an active mental health and homelessness advocate and having struggled with mental health myself, I realized I cannot continue to help others if I do not focus on my spiritual journey to self healing.
How has art helped you since?
By exploring self expression through equating emotions with colours, shapes, and mediums, I have learnt to reconnect with my inner self; allowing myself to explore my childhood love of abstract art. I aim to emulate abstract ideas surrounding nature, society, spirituality, and the cosmos through intuitive contemporary and mixed media layering techniques.
How do you apporach a new piece?
My creative process entails tapping into my intuitive self, with no real destination or plan around how the piece will turn out. The majority of my work is a representation of my inner dialogue, articulated as a visual story. The completion process of my works is similar to solving a puzzle; aiming to create harmony between calculated geometric symmetry and raw emotional release through abstraction.
What do you want to achieve?
I aim to evoke a feeling and philosophical thought to the viewer. Through providing a glimpse into the creative process for all of my works, I am curious as to whether the viewer holds a similar perspective on a painting or whether a piece is perceived differently, and why.
Meditation has an important place in your work. Why?
Breathwork is a technique that is crucial to the creative process of my paintings as it influences the mental, emotional and physical state of my being in the present moment. Researchers have suggested a link between mindfulness meditation and increased creativity. Specifically, meditation seems to promote improved divergent thinking (Colzato et al., 2012). Dobbins and Jaime (2014) found that engaging in divergent thinking tasks helped increase effectiveness of art and writing therapy. My project called “Meditation” depicts this mindfulness breathwork technique in action.
What else do you want to say?
Art is a strong contender of how we share our thoughts and ideas. It holds the opportunity to influence thoughts, allowing new ideas to emerge. I feel art is a powerful tool that can manifest change on both an individual and societal level. Just one new idea can change a persons’ perception, inspiring me to continue to create.
Becks ★ Artist resume
I have been featured in British Vogue’s Autumn/Winter 2020 campaign, and the Autumn 2020 campaign for the World Of Interiors Magazines by Conde Nast Publications. My works will be featured on international art publications such as Capsule Books and Artfolio in 2021. I had my debut as a part of a 2019 group exhibition at the AUT/OUT Gallery of Modern Art, located in Downtown Toronto. I sold my first painting on opening night.
Thank you, Becks.
Instagram: @beckstudio_
Web: beckstudio.ca
