In memoir, you have to be particularly careful not to alienate the reader by making the material seem too lived-in. It mustn't have too much of the smell of yourself, otherwise the reader will be unable to make it her own.
Rachel CuskRead
There is always shame in the creation of an expressive work, whether it's a book or a clay pot. Every artist worries about how they will be seen by others through their work. When you create, you aspire to do justice to yourself, to remake yourself, and there is always the fear that you will expose the very thing that you hoped to transform.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creating art involves vulnerability and the fear of judgment.
This quote by Rachel Cusk reflects the inherent struggle artists face when creating expressive works. It emphasizes the tension between personal aspiration and external perception, highlighting that the act of creation not only seeks to convey one's inner self but also brings with it the anxiety of exposure and judgment by others, making the process both transformative and intimidating.
Themes
ArtCreationVulnerabilitySelf-ExpressionJudgment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during an art class to discuss the emotional challenges of being an artist.
More from Rachel Cusk
All quotes →As writers go, I have a skin of average thickness. I am pleased by a good review, disappointed by a bad. None of it penetrates far enough to influence the thing I write next.
Rachel CuskRead
Shame is something you'll find a lot of - particularly Catholic - girls feel about their bodies, about their sexuality, about their diet, about anything you like. Shame is the way you keep them down. That's the way to crush a girl.
Rachel CuskRead
I have no sense of a model or predecessor when I write a memoir: For me, the form exists as a method of processing material that retains too many connections to life to be approached strictly and aesthetically. A memoir is a risk, a one-off, a bastard child.
Rachel CuskRead
It seems to me that 'women's writing' by nature would not seek equivalence in the male world. It would be a writing that sought to express a distinction, not deny it.
Rachel CuskRead
We who were born were not witnesses to our birth: like death, it is something we are forever after trying to catch sight of.
Rachel CuskRead
Similar quotes
Whatever precautions you take so the photograph will look like this or that, there comes a moment when the photograph surprises you. It is the other's gaze that wins out and decides.
Jacques DerridaRead
Much of songwriting is simply a mystery.
Paul SimonRead
This is the beauty I want. Beauty has got to be astonishing, astounding-- it's got to burst in on you like a dream, like the exquisite eyes of a girl.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance... poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music.
Ezra PoundRead
Make the verses flow together. If a following verse has nothing to do with the previous, you may lose our listener/reader. You want a smooth flow to hear or read, and it's easier to memorize.
Margaret AtwoodRead
I really wanted to be a model when I was little. I loved photography, and I loved being on camera. But I was short and chubby, so I couldn't. Anyway, being an artist is way more interesting than just being a model because it's about you and what you want to be. You're not being treated like a clothes hanger.
Billie EilishRead