Why do we see the same thing so differently?

(This blog continues the complexity of part one and two , really complex!) – robert

Two people can stand in front of the same painting and walk away with completely different impressions. One might find it beautiful, interesting, or thought-provoking. Another might look at it and wonder what the artist was thinking.

The painting hasn’t changed. So what has?

I think a great deal of it comes down to perception. We don’t all look at things through the same lens. Our experiences, knowledge, interests, expectations, and even our willingness to consider something unfamiliar all influence what we see.

Sometimes we aren’t simply looking at the artwork. We’re looking at it through everything we’ve brought with us.

And that can make all the difference.

Seeing Something Different

Throughout the history of art, there have been artists who challenged the way people looked at things. Their work didn’t always fit what people expected art to look like, and sometimes it took years before others began to appreciate what they were doing.

Consider Vincent van Gogh. His paintings are now among the most recognized and celebrated works in the world. But during his lifetime, he received very little recognition for his work. Today, people are captivated by his use of color, movement, and the emotional quality of his paintings.

Or consider Pablo Picasso. His approach to painting challenged traditional ideas about representation and perspective. When people first encountered Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, its distorted figures and unconventional appearance were difficult for many to accept. It wasn’t what they expected a painting to look like.

His later work, including Guernica, demonstrated how an artist could communicate something powerful through fragmented figures, shapes, and an entirely different visual language.

Jackson Pollock took another approach altogether. Rather than using a traditional easel and brushwork, he placed his canvases on the floor and moved around them, pouring and dripping paint across the surface. His physical movement, energy, and momentum became part of the process.

There is a beauty in watching how every line and movement finds its place through energy and momentum. But not everyone sees it that way.

These artists weren’t simply making paintings that looked different. They were approaching the act of creating differently. And in doing so, they challenged viewers to reconsider what they thought art could be.

The interesting thing is that the artwork itself doesn’t change depending on who is looking at it. What changes is the experience of the person looking.

Popularity Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

Does popularity determine the value of art?

It’s an interesting question, because some artists become widely recognized during their lifetimes, while others receive little attention until years after they’re gone. Some works are immediately accepted, while others take decades to find an audience.

And sometimes, people never recognize what an artist was trying to accomplish.

Public opinion can certainly influence an artist’s reputation. Museums, galleries, collectors, critics, and cultural trends all play a role in what becomes recognized and remembered. But popularity and artistic significance aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Something can be popular because people understand it, enjoy it, or find it familiar. Something else may be difficult to understand but still have considerable importance.

And something can be overlooked simply because people haven’t learned how to look at it.

That doesn’t mean every unfamiliar painting is important or that every artist who goes unrecognized is ahead of their time. But it does remind us that public acceptance isn’t the only measure of what something is worth.

Sometimes the way we perceive art changes. Sometimes the culture around it changes. And sometimes the artwork simply remains what it always was, waiting for someone to see it differently.

What Do We Bring to the Experience?

When we look at a painting, we bring our own experiences with us.

A particular color might remind someone of a place they visited. A shape might bring back a memory. A composition might make someone feel comfortable, unsettled, excited, or curious.

The artist may have had an entirely different intention.

That doesn’t necessarily make either experience wrong.

An artist might create something with a particular idea in mind, but once the work is out in the world, the viewer becomes part of the experience. People interpret what they see through their own lives, and sometimes they find something the artist never consciously intended.

I think that’s one of the interesting things about art. It can communicate without requiring everyone to arrive at the same conclusion.

We might look at a painting and see the same colors and shapes, but what we take away from it can be entirely different.

And perhaps that’s part of what makes art worth discussing in the first place.

Seeing the Artist Behind the Work

Over the years, I’ve spent a great deal of time looking at other artists, studying their work, and trying to understand what makes their expression interesting to me.

I’ve also spent years developing my own approach to painting. I’ve experimented, changed direction, tried different techniques, and discovered things along the way that I couldn’t have anticipated when I started.

Sometimes people look at my paintings and recognize something about me in them. They connect with the work, ask questions, or see something that makes them curious about the person who created it.

Other people simply don’t connect with it.

And I understand that.

There are times when I look at my own work and wonder how someone else might see it. I can imagine a visitor coming to my website, looking at one of my abstract paintings, and thinking, “What is this? What is he doing? This doesn’t make any sense.”

I’ve had those thoughts myself.

But there’s something important I have to remind myself of. What someone sees when they look at a painting isn’t necessarily everything that’s there.

Behind the painting are years of experience, experimentation, decisions, ideas, and a particular way of seeing things. There may be a history to the work that isn’t immediately visible.

Just because someone doesn’t recognize that history doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

That’s also one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed developing these blogs. They’ve given me an opportunity to explore some of the thinking behind what I do, and to make connections between my experiences, my ideas, and the work itself.

In the process, I’ve found myself learning things about my own approach to art that I hadn’t necessarily put into words before.

I’m not trying to convince everyone to like my paintings or to see them exactly as I do. I’m simply offering another way to look at them.

What It Comes Down To

Not everyone is going to respond to art in the same way.

Some people are drawn to color. Others notice composition, technique, or the way a painting fits into a room. Some want to understand the idea behind the work. Others simply enjoy looking at it without needing to know anything more.

And some people will walk right past it.

I don’t think that necessarily has anything to do with intelligence or education. We all have different interests and experiences. Some people are naturally curious about certain forms of visual expression, while others are drawn to something completely different.

The important thing is that we don’t have to share the same response to appreciate that someone else may see something meaningful in a work of art.

I’ve spent years looking at other artists and trying to understand what made their work interesting to me. Eventually, I realized that some of that same curiosity needed to be directed toward my own work.

Why do I create the way I do? What am I trying to explore? What do I see that makes me want to keep painting?

And perhaps just as important, why should I second-guess those things simply because someone else doesn’t understand them?

I don’t need everyone to agree with me. I don’t need everyone to like my work. But I do need to believe there’s something worth exploring, creating, and sharing.

That brings me to something I’ve come to recognize about being an artist.

Not everyone has to see what I see. But I have to be able to see it myself.

What do I mean by that?

I mean that I have to recognize something in my own work that makes me want to continue. I have to see the possibilities, the ideas, the connections, and the reasons for creating it. I can’t depend entirely on someone else’s reaction to tell me whether what I’m doing has value.

Of course, it’s wonderful when someone connects with a painting. Some of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had as an artist have been with people who saw something in my work and, in some way, saw something of me as well.

Those connections matter.

But I can’t expect every viewer to have that experience. And I can’t allow the absence of that connection to make me question everything I’m doing.

It comes down to being able to stand behind my own expression, even when someone else sees it differently.

A Few Final Thoughts

Perhaps that’s what perception ultimately teaches us. We don’t all have to see the same thing, understand the same thing, or arrive at the same conclusion.

Art gives us something to look at, but it also gives us something to think about. Sometimes it creates a connection. Sometimes it raises questions. And sometimes it simply gives us an experience we can’t quite explain.

As an artist, I can share my ideas, my experiences, and the things I’ve learned along the way. I can offer people a glimpse into how I see the world.

But I also have to trust my own eyes, my own instincts, and my own reasons for creating.

Not everyone will see what I see. That’s okay.

I just have to keep seeing it myself.