Art is Alchemy

Introduction to the book: ART IS ALCHEMY

          Art is both an expression of the will of one's inmost self, as well as a medium in which that very self comes to know itself.

          Alchemy is the sublime process through which one substance is transformed into another.

          Art is Alchemy when through the act of giving expression to our mysterious inmost self, that self is transformed by its own creation: Creator and Creation are one dynamic, living, transforming, united entity.


          I have never intended to be an artist, or to do art. All of my art has come from the unavoidable compulsion of my inner being to grow and to know.

          Prior to undertaking a work of art, I would often feel a gnawing sense of discontent, without knowing why it was there, until I realized that once again I was being compelled to create. And it was often only after completing a piece of art that I came to realize what it was that the art, and the act of creation, were trying to tell me.

          It was through such compulsion that the images contained within this book came about.

          In this way artistic creation has been a valuable tool for my greater consciousness to inform me about transformations I was going through at the time, or had recently gone through; art became the visual representation or acknowledgement of something which could not be put into words, but which needed to be expressed somehow, so that I could consciously turn to a new page in my life, and begin again as a new being.

          And yet beyond that, it was often in the very act of creating a piece of art that an important shift occurred within me; as the work of art transformed during its creation, so also did I, the artist, transform. Creator and Creation were One.

          It is for this reason that I believe art to be an incredibly important tool for inner growth, for not only does artistic creation allow the subtle layers of the soul to express themselves, but art is also is a living medium in which the artist is transformed in the act of artistry.

          Furthermore, it is important that not only the artist be transformed during the production of an inspired work of art, but that the viewer also becomes an integral part of the process, and also is 'changed' in the act of viewing the art.

          Having said all that, I leave the works of art to speak for themselves, to you, the viewer. There are many ways in which I could go about intellectualizing and describing each piece, and how it related to a stage in my development at the time of its creation. However, the titles I have given each piece should be enough information for the reader, and beyond that the potent, wordless, transformative powers of art must have a silent stage upon which to display these subtle portraits of the Inner Self.

          Jack Haas

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