Por Helena Ospina*
Creation springs
first. Reflection
upon creation may
appear later. Not
all artists need to
come back upon their
creation in search
for luminous paths
that may help their
creativity.
My Splendor
poetic trilogy broke
out intuitively (Splendor
formae 1995,
Splendor Personae
1997, Splendor
gloriae 1998).
My need to explore
it came later. For
an artist the
creative intuition
comes first. The
thought-articulation
process comes later.
The first doesn’t
necessarily imply
the second. But when
the artist sees art
as a process not
only confined within
the walls of the
inner self, but as a
responsibility
towards others, the
thinking-process
related to one’s
primeval intuitions
may begin as an
effort to understand
the artistic truth
behind artistic
talent.
Art’s first gem –a
poem in my personal
case- contains all
the potentiality of
further
expressiveness that
can be pursued both
in other poems or
essays. The
difference I see
between the two is
the ability a poem
has to “curtail” the
lengthy explanation
needed in an essay.
Why should an artist
trust so much the
potential
expressiveness of
the first gem given?
Edith Stein’s
believes the work of
art resembles and
points out to the
archetypal image.
The poet is given
the gift to
“re-create” it (Stein.
Finite and
Eternal Being).
And since the
archetype Beauty– is
infinite, the
artist’s life
consists in opening
inwardly to it (Stein.
Philosophy of
Psychology),
letting the inner
self be determined
to re-create it as
faithfully as
possible throughout
a lifetime.
When an artist
understands this
artistic truth and
acknowledges the
responsibility of
this given talent,
artistic work is
endowed with another
perspective. The
artist realizes the
“sweet weight” of
creativity -laid
upon the heart- as
one endowed with
“the eyes open to
the world of values”
(Stein.
Philosophy of
Psychology),
feeling the need to
live in interaction
with the Archetype
and community.
*
Helena Ospina
completed her
undergraduate
studies in French
Literature at
Georgetown
University (Phi Beta
Kappa) in 1966 (Senior
Essay: Paul Valéry:
De l’idôle de
l’intellect à la
sagesse du coeur).
She then earned her
Licentiate degree at
the University of
Costa Rica in 1971 (Paul
Valéry y la creación
artística: De la
“Introducción al
método de Leonardo
da Vinci” hacia una
Poética). At the
Instituto de
Ciencias de la
Educación of the
University of
Navarre she obtained
her Diploma in
“Orientación
Familiar”. She
teaches both
Literature and a
Seminar in Education
at the University of
Costa Rica. As
Executive Director
of PROMESA
(Promotora de Medios
de Comunicación, S.
A.), a cultural
enterprise founded
in 1982, she manages
both the editorial
publishing house and
the project
“Interrelating the
Arts”. Her vision of
artistic creativity
(“Arte y Persona”
1996) places “the
unity of life” as an
ideal to conquer
between the arts and
the person. Unity of
meaning and
structure in the
Arts. Unity of
spirit and body in
the person. And
unity of life and
work. The work of
art as Splendor
formae (1995).
The artist’s life as
Splendor Personae
(1997). And art’s
finality as
Splendor gloriae
(1998). This
Splendor trilogy
implies both the
formation of the
artist’s personality
and his craft –as
“value bearers”–
capable of
transforming both
the artist and his
community in a
transcendent
endeavor.
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