so what moves YOU?
Occasionally someone will ask me about my artwork or about my writing (typically when they are first getting to know me or first learn that I do either of those things). The most common questions that get asked are “what kind of art do you do / what do you write about?” My answer to both has for the most part been the same; fantasy. From there I wait for that tell-tale look, a somewhat blank expression they put on as they struggle to find something nice to say.
Fantasy art & literary fantasy both get a bit of a bad reputation from the mainstream. It’s often regarded as not being a legitimate genre in either field. I have known artists who honestly believed that fantasy art was not real art. There have been enough writers who have voiced their contempt of literary fantasy, to the point of describing it as “utter crap”.
I chose fantasy at a very young age, because it was something that resonated with me and fueled my imagination like nothing else. This is not especially significant, since it happens that way for a lot of people. I, however, chose not to outgrow it. Fantasy for me is all about escape, a means to leave the mundane aspects of this world and indulge my imagination in the exotic. I am absolutely certain that without the fantasy genre as a guide, my imagination would have died with my youth, and I would not have the pursuits I have today.
Despite my affection for fantasy, I have found myself being somewhat over-careful when I get asked the inevitable “what do you do” question. Art and writing is deeply personal to me, and like most people I don’t like being written off based purely on stereotype. As a result, I tend to dance around my answers with things like “whatever comes to me at the time” or “no specific area”. I hate it when I do that, because somewhere I feel like I am betraying something.
Todd Lockwood (as professional fantasy artist I deeply respect) had this to say on his site:
I’ve just received and answered my umpteenth letter from an art student frustrated by his art school’s dismissive attitude toward Fantastic Art. Fantasy art is respected in the “Old World,” but in America it is the red-headed step-child.
It is, in part, an unfortunate side effect of the Disney Factor - the mistaken impression that these are mere fairy stories intended to entertain the kiddies. Fairy Stories themselves are the remnants of older belief systems, the roots of which are worth exploring in their own right. Of course these tales were told to children - all our tales are. Sunday school, anyone? But the older beliefs were buried by the newer ones until only the skins of the stories remained like the shrouds of ghosts, the deeper meanings lingering darkly, like kelpies beneath the surface of our canons.
What we lose by dismissing Fantasy is huge. The genre is metaphor: Lord of the Rings is chock full of Tolkein’s Catholic upbringing and beliefs about morality, faith, and progress. It shines a light on society: consider Bram Stoker’s Dracula and what it reveals about the conflict of faith and enlightenment in Victorian England, or Shelly’s Frankenstein as commentary on the fallibility of modern science and medicine, or George Orwell warning us against the dystopian perils of fascism and communism in 1984 and Animal Farm.
Fantasy art is about the ineffable, secret heart of human existence that our stories and cultures have sought to define for millennia. It is about Discovery.
To bring the point even further, the author of The Aldersgate Cycle said this:
Fantasy writers ought not forget the power and the responsibility we have in opening the eyes of others to words never before conceived of; we must also understand the line of ancestors before us, who’ve paved the way. It’s not something to be taken lightly, I don’t think; fantasy fiction that’s taken lightly often ends up laughable, clichéd, and painfully hokey.
So yes, it’s taken me 500 words or so to say it, but here’s the thing: I write fantasy because it speaks to me. The decisions I have made in my life can all be traced back to a love of literature, and especially literature that took me somewhere else. There’s nothing wrong with our Earth, of course; it’s a lovely place. But the weird, the wonderful, and the wild of fantasy literature is, to me, one of the most delightful paths to tread. When I let my imagination go, I don’t visit France or Morocco or Tunisia: I go to Arda, to Narnia, and the thousands of other unseen worlds, just under the surface, their reflections shimmering in In Between.
There’s an old saying that says “Write what you know, write what you love”. Larry Elmore said something very similar to me and a few others last year. In both cases these are profound statements that should not be dismissed. I could not be content just painting still-life, and more than I could write historic fiction.
It makes me glad to know that there are others who are writing about this, and making statements in defense of the fantasy genre. While there are no shortages of fans for either fantasy art or literary fantasy, there is equally no shortage of critics either. In both areas, the fantasy genre has a voice, an impact, and should be respected.
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Of course, I completely agree. It’s an issue in writing and in art–as a genre in particular. Don’t give up; full steam ahead. The more intelligent voices we can lend to the debate, the more likely we’ll be heard.
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