Mending Beauty

I have wrote about many different paintings and stories this year. However, none of them stook out to me as much as Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s “Mend.” This photo, at first, really suprised me. I wondered to myself, “What is happening in the photo? Why are there different pictures combined to one? What is the artist portraying in this photo? Why did the artist create this character like this?” Just like what I said in my last medium post about this painting, I was at first very confused and had so many questions. However, after analyzing the painting further I was able to realize how beautiful it really was. The mending of different paintings into one beautiful piece of art that is very appealing to our eyes, just like a puzzle reveals the true picture.

After further anaylsis, I realized that the purpose of this photo was to show how we should not judge people by how they look. They can choose how they want to look, just like how Nathaniel wanted his painting to look this way.

After a few weeks, I stumbled upon another activity we did in our English class. We listened to a podcast from John Green about Agnes Martin. I also did a post about this recently. In this podcast, I learned about true beauty.

The quote that stook out to me the most was when a story about Agnes Martin and her granddaughter Isobel. Agnes Martin sees Isobel outside holding onto a rose she found on the bush. Agnes Martin asks Isobel, “Is this rose really beautiful?” Isobel responds, “yes.” Agnes then proceeds to ask Isobel the same question again, but with the rose hidden behind her back. Isobel once again says “yes.” Agnes then says, “ You see, Isobel. Beauty is in your mind, not in the rose.”

This reminded me about the painting from Nathaniel Mary Quinn, “Mend.” Through both of these paintings I was able to see that beauty is a state of the mind, not a state of the body. Agnes Martin told me this through her message while Nathaniel told me this through his painting. Overall, I was able to learn what true beauty was. When you are selfless, your body portrays the beauty that lies within you. Sometimes you need to look closer for true beauty.