The Artistic Temperament
How Art Disturbs the Comfortable and Comforts the Disturbed
Art is more than a medium, it is a mirror, a storm, a sanctuary. The provocative words of Cesar A. Cruz ring with timeless truth: “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” In this paradox lies the core of its transformative power.
Art shakes the foundations of what we think we know. It whispers to the wounded soul and roars in the face of complacency. To create art is to translate the unspoken language of the psyche into a form others can feel. To behold it is to be seen, or to be shaken awake.
In this space, art becomes both a map and a medicine. It is where the human soul finds its shape, even in chaos.
The Artistic Temperament: Born to Feel, See and Shape
The artistic temperament is not simply a personality type, it is a deep, innate calling. Artists are natural empaths, alchemists of emotion. They feel the tremors of the world more deeply, sensing what lies beneath the surface of things.
In psychological terms, many artists exhibit high openness to experience, a trait strongly linked to imagination, sensitivity and the appreciation of beauty. But this gift comes at a cost. To be an artist is often to be raw, exposed, haunted by visions others may never see. The soul of an artist is porous, absorbing joy tragedy, injustice and wonder in equal measure.
Vincent van Gogh is a poignant example. A soul aflame with vision, he lived not in the world as it is but as he felt it. Through brushstrokes that vibrated with intensity, Van Gogh painted not what he saw with his eyes but what he saw with his heart. And though the world called him mad, history has remembered him as one of its greatest seers.
Artists like Van Gogh lived through their art, sometimes, only through it. For them, expression was not optional; it was survival. They remind us that creativity is a sacred necessity, not a luxury.
The Architecture of Imagination
Artists are architects of the Unseen. Where others see walls, they see windows. Where others see silence, they hear symphonies. Their purpose is not to replicate life but to reimagine it.
And while Art often defies explanation, neuroscience is beginning to reveal its power. Brain imaging shows that the act of creating art activates toward pathways, reduces cortisol (the stress hormone) and lights up regions associated with self-awareness and memory. When viewing art, the brain mirrors emotional expressions, suggesting they we feel the art we see, as though it becomes part of us.
In fact, research into ‘neuroeasthetics’ has shown that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. Our emotional response to art is filtered through our experiences, traumas, hopes and beliefs. This is why a single painting can leave one person in tears and another untouched. The soul, after all has it’s own taste.
But this is not randomness, it is resonance. The art we love reflects something within us that longs to be seen, named or healed.
Beauty, the Soul and the Sacred Unknown
True art reaches beyond Technique. It enters the realm of soul. As mystics and sages have long believed, the soul is not limited to the self. It is an ever-present , living field of intelligence, intuition and grace.
When art is birthed from the soul, it carries something transcendent. Whether in sculpture, sound, movement or colour. It awakens what is hidden. This is why sacred art across cultures often has a timeless, otherworldly quality. From Byzantine icons to Sufi poetry, from Aboriginal dream paintings to Japanese haiku, art has long been the language of the divine.
But not all art comforts. Some disturbs. And it should.
In Jungian psychology, confronting the ‘shadow’ is a necessary part of healing. Shadows of the kind that unsettle or even horrify, force us to face what we’ve buried. Francis Bacon’s tormented faces. Edward Munch’s silent scream. These are not comfortable images but they are cathartic. They hold up a mirror to our inner fractures, daring us to look.
Why We Must Protect the Artists
In a society obsessed with productivity and profit, artists often find themselves undervalued or misunderstood. Yet we turn to them in times of war, grief, change and love. Art has been the heartbeat of every major revolution, whether cultural, spiritual or political.
To silence artists is to silence the soul of a generation. Artists have always lived on the edge of reality, where dream meets discipline. Their pain is often deep but their power is deeper. Whether through trauma or transcendence, they serve a sacred function: to reimagine the world.
This role is not always easy. Many creatives battle mental health challenges, loneliness or poverty. Yet still, they create. Because to not create would be a deeper death.
A Final Word: Art is the Echo of the Eternal
Art is not merely a product. It is prescence.
It holds memory, mystery and meaning. It reminds us that even in a fragmented world, beauty still exists. And that the brokenness we carry may yet be the birthplace of something holy.
Whether we are disturbed or too comfortable, art invites us to shift.
It takes our pain and makes it better. It challenges our illusions, then hands us new vision. It cracks us open and in that opening, lets the light flood in.
So let us never dismiss the artists, the dreamers, the wild-hearted souls who dare to feel too much- for they are our guides.
