Soulscape 26, The Power of Art Is Its Ability to Transform
From My Upcoming Book: Soulscape – The Role of Art in Our Lives
Lion Man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, 40-35,000 B.C. Photo: Dagmar Hollmann. WC.
The Lion Man, the first known figurative sculpture dating back 40,000 years, serves as a powerful testament to the human capacity for transformation. It’s a 12” tall sculpture depicting a man disguised under a lion’s skin. Not only is it the first example of figurative artwork, but it’s also the first depiction of a superhero.
Art takes intangible concepts—like love, emotion, abstract thought, and other elements of the human condition—and transforms them into perceivable, concrete forms. Ideas and imagination only exist as potentials, and the act of defining them often feels like going down rabbit holes. But art turns the ineffable into the tangible, creating a special language that makes the elusive elements of our psyche visible, felt, and understood. This transformation, due to the cognitive capacity of the first artists, marks the greatest paradigm shift of life on Earth, from primate to Homo sapiens.
Art is a window to our future.
Artwork: Lion Man.
Written by Michael Newberry.
Video and Voice created with Clipchamp.
Wow, thank you. I didn't know this. I am looking forward to reading the posts you have shared, of late. I love it when I have time for that!
We forget that without mirrors the person wearing the tribal costume would have never seen how he looked. That must she been a transformative moment, and to know it saves his image for all time. We forget these simple things we take for granted.