In a comment to a previous post, artist Tamara English (online at www.tamaraenglishstudio.com) remarked about Matt’s ideas on world peace.

Tamara concluded the post by writing:

"We each have our own unique answer to this question of how to take a step towards world peace. Our ruminations reflect our unique inner worlds.  How great to see what gets brought to the table, and the inspiration for all of us.  And I believe we can transform:  that everything can turn on a dime. I hold this vision of hope for world peace, for all having enough to eat, for a healthy environment.  We really do have the power to be the change we want to see in the world." 

Matt responds:

Tamara, I think your introspection on peace is excellent.  There is so much packed into your statements that promote an examination of almost everything we do as a culture.  Your reference to acceptance, self-examination, bringing love to yourself, how you manifest it, and how, through introspection, you decide what’s worth warring over and what isn’t—all gets down to the very principles of education.  If education is about complete settled knowledge, does it only refer to the culture you’re being educated in, and therefore does it challenge other cultures?

Therein is a mammoth problem to be solved with our idea of the New Los Alamos, where people with conflicting views of the same world come up with completely different answers but agree to tolerate one another rather than kill one another.  Art is such a tool in this journey.  Everyone looks at the same thing and sees something different.

So your examination of the complete profile of peace, I believe, digs into the realities of how difficult this process is gong to be, just by the very nature of man, how we govern ourselves, and how power is created, used, and misused.  All of the things that make us social, thinking, acting entities will challenge us.  Thank you for your observations and your practices.  I believe you have put a frame around the whole aspect of peace.

Matt

Editor’s note:  Tamara has a show up this month (July) at the Mark Woolley Gallery in Portland, Oregon.  If you’re in the area, stop by and see the show.  If you’re not near Portland, you can check out her paintings on the gallery’s website, www.MarkWoolley.com.