INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE, JAPANESE AND INDIAN (RASA) AESTHETICS: Inspiring creativity from behind the viewfinder

My teaching methods – taken as a whole – explore aesthetics as catalysts that provoke an emotional gaze: that is, a means for artists to corral, sometimes, creative meandering, into a more focused approach in creating art. Learning about different oriental aesthetics is just one of several notions of aesthetics, for another example, Victorian notions of aesthetics (within the so called Aesthetic Movement in 19th century Britain), which, for example, influenced 19th century photographer Julia Margret Cameron (1815-1879) and her celebrated “soft-focus” aesthetics complementing a lot of her portrait and theatrical compositions.

Most Chinese and Japanese notions of aesthetics are based on several interconnecting concepts, bringing attention to the common place, austere, the wilting, old, and the patina of age, to name a few adjectives associated with the understated.  Rasa Theory - (Indian Aesthetics) - Indian concept of aesthetic flavor, an essential element of any work of visual, literary, or performing art that can only be suggested, not described. It is a kind of contemplative abstraction … (To learn more please consider registration to the Mentoring Program: see Mentoring & Lecture Tab for details, or email me: lance.visualizingart@gmaii.com)