Seeing Behind the Work

As an artist, I am often asked to explain my work. What is the subject, the motivation, the inspiration?
The following is an excerpt from an article by Sean Justice, posted in Culture Hall and written for an exhibition Justice curated in China entitled Pictures are Words-Not-Known.  Perhaps this article will answer some of your questions about the work, how and why it is made, and the way in which different cultures effect our thinking and making of art.
"The confusion of picture with work emerges because our understanding of the art-making process has been derailed; or, perhaps we've just gotten the words wrong. What we call the "work" is not really the work at all, but rather the result of the work. The actual work is the question that the artist asks. The picture (or the sculpture, or the dance, or the computer interactive poem), is an attempt to articulate the question, and perhaps to suggest an answer. By the time an audience sees any particular artwork, the real work—the dynamic, sweat-and-grime work—is done and gone. What we see is what's left over. At that point, as viewers, our job is to see through the art and imagine the work, the questions, behind it.
Most of the time, however, we engage with art as if it were a mirror. We only want to see ourselves. And when we do, we "like" the art. And if we don't see ourselves, we "don't like" it. In both cases, we miss the point entirely. The artist didn't bleed and cry for us to feel good or not feel good. That is perverse. No, the artist looked carefully, felt deeply, and explored and experimented and failed a million times because...why? Why would anyone put themselves through that pain and potential humiliation? This is the wonder that we search for, perhaps to glimpse briefly, perhaps to breathe into our own lives. But it's impossible to reach that state of awareness, of transparency, if we're searching for a mirror."
Read the entire article here.