Eric
L Frederick Peterson currently lives in Lake Park, Georgia. After graduating summa cum laude in social psychology, Erick earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in cognitive psychology. His diverse art background includes fine art painting, illustration and design. His primary medium is synthetic polymer on flat and stretched canvas.
Psychology in art examines how thoughts, emotions, and perceptions influence the artist's creative process as well as viewer interpretation and response to art on both consciously and unconsciously. Key points include the following:
Emotional Expression: Art is a powerful medium for expressing and communicating emotions. Artists use various techniques, colors, and imagery to evoke a diverse gambit of emotional response in viewers. Simply put, viewers form a new synthesis of cognitions from exposure to art.
Symbolism and Meaning: Art is rich in symbolism, allowing artists to convey complex ideas or messages. Psychological theories such as psychoanalysis suggest artists may project unconscious thoughts and desires into their work interpreted and analyzed in a similar fashion by viewers.
Perception and Perspective: Artists experiment with different perspectives and visual illusions to challenge the viewer's perception. Principles of depth perception, color theory, and visual processing like closure, proximity, figure ground and pragnanz combine with memories and prior experience to influence art interpretation.
Art Therapy: Psychology and art intersect in the field of art therapy utilizing artistic expression as a therapeutic tool. Art therapists help explore emotions, promote self-expression, and facilitate personal growth for healing. Art also facilitates creative expression contributing to feelings of catharsus and well being,
Aesthetics and Beauty: Psychology examines how individuals perceive and evaluate beauty and aesthetics in art. Factors such as symmetry, color preferences and the impact of cultural and individual differences on aesthetic judgments are explored. In short, the viewer enters into a cognitive contract, contributing dynamically to the artistic experience through their thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
Influence of Context: Art interpretation is influenced by cultural, historical, and social contexts. Psychology helps explain contextual elements shaping understanding and appreciation of artworks including prevailing paradigm and zeitgeist influences.
Artistic Process and Creativity: Psychology delves into the creative process and the factors contributing to artistic inspiration and innovation. Processes such as divergent thinking, problem-solving and imagination underscore how artists generate novel ideas to produce unique artworks.
Overall, psychology in art offers insights into the psychological dimensions of artistic creation, perception, and interpretation. Creating art and experiencing art enhance understanding of the human experience, emotions, and cognitions through the lens of visual expression. I believe art is a moving center of a creative wheel without limit or circumference. For me, art provides a vehicle for creative expression as well as a source for vitality, inspiration and a sense of child like wonder emotionally therapeutic as the creative journey progresses from blank canvas to finished work.
Gestalt psychology is a school of thought focusing on how humans perceive and make sense of the world around them. It emphasizes the importance of holistic perception and the organization of visual elements into meaningful patterns. The principles of gestalt psychology describe the ways in which our minds organize visual information.
Figure-Ground Relationship: Perception naturally segregates visual stimuli into a foreground (figure) and a background (ground). We tend to focus on the main object or figure while the surrounding elements form the background.
Law of Proximity: Elements appearing close to each other are perceived as a group or a unified whole. We perceive objects that are near each other as belonging together and forming a single unit.
Law of Similarity: Similar elements are grouped together. Objects sharing similar shape, color, or size are perceived as belonging to the same category.
Law of Closure: We mentally complete or fill gaps in incomplete figures to perceive them as whole objects. Our minds fill in missing information to create closure, allowing us to see complete shapes even when parts are missing.
Law of Continuity: We perceive lines or curves following a smooth, continuous path as belonging together. Elements aligned in a smooth, flowing manner are perceived as a single entity.
Law of Symmetry: Symmetrical objects are perceived as organized and harmonious. We tend to perceive symmetrical shapes as complete and stable, even if some parts are hidden or incomplete.
Law of Common Fate: Elements moving in the same direction or having common visual attributes are perceived as a group. We perceive objects that share a common motion or behavior as belonging to the same unit or category.
You will undoubtedly find Gestalt principles present in my art to varying degrees. Gestalt psychology helps explain how perception is not simply a summation of individual elements, but a process of active organization and interpretation within the brain. I trust you will enjoy the interplay of gestaltens included both consciously and unconsciously in my art. I paint fast and rely on intuition in contrast to a deliberate, formalized expectations. For me, the journey is one of anticipation and de nu mon, awaiting the final unraveling of the plot after the final brush stroke. Frequently I return to a finished work with new insights, suddenly perceiving forms, figures and order not apparent to me during the painting process.
Please note I generally do not entitle my paintings. In prior days I have my paintings nonsense names for a reason; I am reluctant to steer the perceptions of the viewer to a preconceived conclusion. Viewers come from different backgrounds and offer a rich panoplay of fresh observations. Paintings take on new life in the unbridled cognitions and inner landscape of viewers. This interplay between the artist, the painting and the viewer creates a truly transformational object de arte.