There Are No Artists; Only Imitators

Today I realized something. There are no true artists, originators and creators alive today. Those of us who consider ourselves artists are nothing more than documentarians presenting previous beauty in a communicable and relatable form. We are simply trying to express what we have already experienced for ourselves.

The painter is nothing more than an imitator of God’s brush strokes in the colors of the sky and the strands of hair he has placed on our heads.

The musician nothing more than a person trying to express their beliefs and emotions in tones that capture the human soul.

The writer hardly more than a person incapable of keeping their meditations to them self, with their writings simply an easier way to disseminate the information to a larger number of people, possibly even after their life is over.

Yet in all of our lack of creation, in our rehashing what has already come before us, in all of our repetition, at best we have only traced what God has created at worst finagled a badly made knock off and yet God is able and willing at times to use these dust and ashes for his glory. It amazes me that God will even acknowledge our “handiwork” let alone employ it in order that people would draw nearer to Him or even know Him. I’m thankful for people like C.S. Lewis, John MacArthur, Shai Linne, John Newton and Gustave Doré.

“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 8:4

“That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.” Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

Also, I’m not sure I agree with this. An artist doesn’t have to be completely original, because, you’re right, there is nothing new that can be created. An artist is someone who replicates what they know. So to say an artist isn’t a true artist because they’re not God is false. What makes an artist original is their interpretation of something already in existence because everybody perceives things differently. So, a different spin on something is artistic in its own right. – Jason Kisner