Mumbai, June 23 Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur shared his thoughts on the relationship between creativity, mental health, and the nature of artistic genius.
Taking to Instagram, Kapur reflected on Vincent van Gogh’s iconic painting Starry Night, calling it “the world’s most valued painting,” and marveling at how it was created during one of the most turbulent phases in the artist’s life. In his post, he revealed that Gogh painted Starry Night while admitted to a mental asylum, a time marked by severe emotional struggles. He further reflected on the fact that while he can return to his “normal” self after storytelling, many legendary artists like Van Gogh struggled with mental illness, sometimes unable to make that switch.
Calling for a broader understanding of mental health, Shekhar Kapur challenged conventional definitions of normalcy and illness. Sharing photos of Vincent’s paintings, the Mr. India director wrote, “This is the world’s most valued painting. Starry Nights was painted by Van Gogh while he was in the mental asylum and at the height of his ‘mental illness.’ Van Gough’s bold, expressive brush created swirling patterns in the night sky. Physicians have long tried to solve the equations of fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics represents the true nature of the universe. And according to them, apparently Van Gogh painted a true representation of fluid dynamics!” (sic)
“How does an artist reputed to be suffering from schizophrenia manage to capture the true nature of our universe?? Quite apart from examining the relationship between art and science, what I wonder about a lot is the relationship between schizophrenia and creativity. When I write a story, I am transformed into the world of my characters. To help me transport my readers/listeners to that world, I need to believe in that world myself. I need to transport myself to that world. I need to become my characters.... Am I then experiencing a schizoid state? When I am transported into different worlds, believing I am somewhere else and somebody else?”
His post further read, “Fortunately I am able to switch those characters off. And return to my normal state (whatever normal might be) ... and yet artists like Van Gogh, who painted some of the greatest poets/artists in the world, have suffered from mental illness. not being able to switch back to normal (whatever normal might be)”
Shekhar Kapur ended his post adding, “In that case we need to redefine mental illnesses... we need to redefine what normal is... if all creativity happens beyond the normal... in a state that so many artists, dancers, musicians, and actors define as the ‘zone’ they tap into... Where is this zone? What do we tap into when we tell stories we believe in? When do we paint the nature of the universe as we see it? Is it a schizophrenic act? #Art #Schizophrenic #Schizophrenia.”
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