In the artist’s pursuit, there is an expectation of what is subjectively beautiful, and aesthetically appealing to the everyday audience’s eyes. One must ask the question. What is beautiful art?

“I believe art is really important for the means of self-expression. I can be able to make my unique piece of art through the way I feel and how I can place that down onto paper in my way,” senior Jo Spain, an art hobbyist, said.Spain has been developing their craft of creating art for around eight years. Spain creates character drawings that reflect their interest, often making interesting shapes, and styles for every individual character. They have an appeal for different assortments of art, they are most attracted to art that is often marked down as “ugly art” as they have an appreciation for these underrepresented pieces of artwork. Spain has a keen eye for art that’s often considered “unattractive” in a traditional sense. They create pieces that often build their ideal image of what’s appealing to their eyes, rather than what’s pleasing for others. Society has depicted what is beautiful to associated with what’s subjectively acceptable, which is at times unrealistic for the many forms of art that are created with different means and style.

“Art is more interesting because it’s a quiet way of expressing yourself unlike something like writing or performing music. You only really get the author’s frame of mind if you look into the piece more than just overanalyzing every little word like you have to do in books or try to create a scene in your head with music.” Spain said.

Art has taken different variations through-out the years as artists are able to take on different styles for their work, and how they handle their craft. All artwork has their own unique composure, and how the process of creating shapes as its final result. Like music, there are some genres that are more appealing to others, and the very same can be said about art. A variety of artists with different tastes and how they want to represent themselves. However, there are many variations on one singular genre and they never are exactly the same, or carry the same principles. Different art pieces, even if they fit into a single category, carry many different elements into their work.

“Art has no real rules you can follow, you have principles and elements, but that’s entirely up to the artist on how they plan to use them. Artwork is entirely subjective of what’s deemed as good work, and bad work as someone can like an art piece, and another person is indifferent,” Spain said.

Art expression can convey several meanings for an artist, every artist expresses themselves differently. In art, there are no rules for expression. Art has been trying perfect techniques into creating art that is often described as perfectly crafted. What most people have forgotten is that art can be created without their perfect ideal crafts with cleanliness and beautiful proportions.

“I believed that even more stylistic pieces should be valued just as well as others. Just because it’s not flawlessly perfect, doesn’t mean that we can’t find intentional imperfections just as valuable as flawless art. I think that the flaws in art pieces bring more interesting ideas to them.” Spain said.

Not all art is made with the intention of being perfect, most art brings a certain elevation of interesting idea.  Elements can be small as intentional crooked lines, clashing colors, and the focus being uncentered. These mistakes can be intended to present a feeling towards the audience as it most often influences the feeling of oddity in someone’s work. Allowing others to see art in a more complex scale allows artwork being more interesting, not only by its composure but the central meaning and intentions that was made behind it. This creates more interpretations to someone’s piece.

“A lot of interesting works stem from the chaoticness of them,” Spain said. “Like how wonky the lines are, or how the colors clash with each other. I rather see art that is interesting than beautifully boring and perfect.” Art criticism has been blurred throughout the years, as certain artists can see art in one way compared to another.

“I believe that people should be criticized differently depending on the different art pieces, and the art style of that piece. No one is going to judge a realistic painting the same way they would judge a drawing of a cartoon that is made from pencil and ink. They are two different mediums and two different ways of expression that are separate styles. You just can’t compare the two to be the same.” Spain said.

Most times critics want abstract illustrations like our realistic painted portraits despite the fact that the two weigh in heavily different artistic values and expressions. A certain way a person wants to express themselves doesn’t have to flow into the normality of perfect pieces that critics are looking after. The way we should subject ourselves to art is by figuring out what the intention of the piece was, rather than whether it’s clear or not in the actual piece. Art should be criticized differently depending on the intent, but more importantly, the stylistic take of the piece itself.

“Art criticism is a mixed feeling. It’s just, I might not be a pilot but I know when someone crashes a plane,” Spain said. “Not everyone needs to be an artist to criticize art, It’s so blurred to tell what’s good and bad criticism.”

What’s important is that for certain pieces, different criticisms can be made, since not all criticisms are applicable to all forms of art. Having many different assortments of art pieces, the most underappreciated “hideous” works still have the same amount of love and care poured into them. Allowing intentional imperfections brings in so many different perspectives for many people who may see art separately from others. Often criticize art based on what people believe it should represent rather than understanding the artist’s true intent of their work. Critics are quick to judge art that people don’t see as idealistic or perfect enough to stand on its own. Criticism has been a matter of trying to perfect someone’s craft, although giving the wrong assessment can miss the general understanding of someone’s piece.

“Ugly art rocks because it shows how making art can be something that you truly want and how it can be your platform and nobody can really dictate how it’s supposed to look. I like it a lot because I believe that the uglier art is, more of the artist’s personality can shine through.” Spain said.

Having more diverse styles of art allow for many different expressions shown throughout to people who may feel those very pieces connect to them. It expressed their emotions and how they would like others to interpret their art in a scale that they would also appreciate their more seamless counterpart. Ugly art presents more visually interesting appeals and interpretations that could inspire others to seek deeper meanings into artworks, and how they are meticulously created. Ugly art is still a legitimate part of our world. It’s pieces of art that should be proudly displayed as any other piece of art alongside it.