Spiritually I am wherever my spirit allows me to be, and that is not necessarily in the future... Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the complex relationship between spirituality and art, suggesting that art does not always provide the peace or clarity one seeks.
Willem De Kooning's quote reflects on the fluidity of spiritual existence and the inherent struggles within the artistic process. He acknowledges that while his spirit can transcend temporal boundaries, the act of creating art may not lead to the tranquility or purity often anticipated. This hints at the dissonance artists experience, where the pursuit of art can be fraught with internal conflict rather than the serene resolution they might hope for.
In practice
In an art class discussing the emotional struggles behind creative expression.
I paint the way I do because I can keep on putting more and more things in - like drama, pain, anger, love, a figure, a horse, my ideas of space. It doesn't matter if it differs from mine, as long as it comes from the painting, which has its own integrity and intensity.
The attitude that nature is chaotic and that the artist puts order into it is a very absurd point of view, I think. All that we can hope for is to put some order into ourselves.
I don't paint to live, I live to paint.
Im not someone whos ever said anything definitive about his work. In my life also I have very little fixed form. I can change overnight.
Art should not have to be a certain way.
My interest in desperation lies only in that sometimes I find myself having become desperate. Very seldom do I start out that way. I can see of course that, in the abstract, thinking and all activity is rather desperate.
Music is part of the life of fashion, too.
I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art.
If you're a fiction writer, though, I can tell you how to let people talk through you. Listen. Just be quiet, and listen. Let the character talk. Don't censor, don't control. Listen, and write.
I love movies, but sometimes I think it's better for actresses not to be total cinephiles. You have to be able to do the work at some point; you can't be totally starstruck. 'I can't believe it's Woody Allen!' You have to get past that.
It was at that age that poetry came in search of me.
I had never before thought of how awful the relationship must be between the musician and his instrument. He has to fill it, this instrument, with the breath of life, his own. He has to make it do what he wants it to do. And a piano is just a piano. It's made out of so much wood and wires and little hammers and big ones, and ivory. While there's only so much you can do with it, the only way to find this out is to try; to try and make it do everything.
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