Akiane, the child prodigy, and hierophany

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Have you guys heard of Akiane, the prodigy in art and poetry? Here are some articles and videos that I've found. Some of the informations may be redundant, but I tried to cover as much as possible what is being said of her.

official site:
http://www.artakiane.com/

articles on her:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2004/004/7.24.html
http://www.inspiremagazine.org.uk/artic ... ?i=25&q=88
http://custosfidei.blogspot.com/2007/01 ... m-god.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... oetry.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiane_Kramarik

Some videos from Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqNRGoSo ... ed&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OniDl5oh ... ed&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZSGK5lv ... ed&search=

It seems that there are discussions on whether she is real or not, but that's not the point I wish to focus on. The important thing is that the paintings and poems that are being introduced under her name are bringing out various responses from the people, some religious some not.

I think what I feel when I see her paintings and read her words is the sense that God is being revealed to us. This could mean two things to me. First, that Akiane is sent for the good of many people, including me. Then, the question comes up, why is it that she is the one that has all the talents? Is it that God thinks she is more precious than others? As I gave some thoughts to these questions, I realized, through Akiane, I am able to appreciate the talents and the hierophanies that are all around and within me all the time. She is like a reminder. It is as if through her God wanted to make us realize what wondrous gifts are given to us. Because I had been able to open my eyes to the beauty of human artistic talent through her, I am able to appreciate more when I listen to music, and when I see paintings I am able to realize how wonderful it is that people have all these talents. They are hierophanies, like God being revealed through them, at least for me.
And when I think further, I realize that life and existence themselves are hierophanies. Like my cats! It's not that I am saying they are divine, but that they are like the image of God reflected in the mirror. Hierophanies guide you toward God, they reveal to us little by little who God is.

I guess this is my personal sentiment. Any thoughts on this or on Akiane?

Ah, the first thing people tend to assume is that being a genius is easy, that a ‘gift’ is just that.
In my experience, being gifted is a great burden, some would say an honourable curse.
There are people who won’t, or more often can’t believe it, and often these beliefs are due to feelings of inadequacy and not based upon consideration of the presented facts.

The very fact that some individuals appear gifted when others do not, is more to do with the definition of giftedness and the recognition of it, and equally the definition of what is not gifted.

I personally believe that such gifts are from ‘God’ and that through one’s own work comes the work. (Work for the greater purpose).
I also believe that everyone can contribute something valuable to this stream of consciousness; that every individual is necessary to contributing to uncertainly perturbation, the fluctuation in quantum probability that sustains the diversity of creation.

Hmm...I think that's a very powerful and affirming statement. Personally, I wasn't in a good mood today but reading it made me feel better. I do wish I could contribute something valuable to this stream of consciousness. I feel that life is not long. I haven't got much time nor do I have many chances. As for your view on being a genius, I guess I wasn't very much aware that it could be an honourable curse. Thanks.

What's so special about her art?

I see a few below-average paintings, that's all. She's no Van Gogh or Di Vinci. Hell, she isn't a Marc!

Her paintings are too far rooted in Romantic realism and are far too generic.

David Hockney is, and forever will be my favorite painter.

I agree that if we take out of consideration her age, the fact that she is self-taught, and her poems or verbal articulations on her works that accompany each painting, the art itself might not be very impressive. Although I enjoy her art, I guess the great amount of attention paid to her is more about the expectation of her potential growth as an artist. Also, the concept of 'Indigo Child' has played a big role in bringing her fame. Her expressions on affinity to God seems to be raising interest in some people as well. I might be one of those people.

I checked out David Hockney's art. The shattered and compartmentalized screens (which were at the same time remarkably orderly) were interesting and appealing. It communicated to me of a mind that felt inexplicable distance and ambiguity from its surroundings. I could sense sadness (which was almost like a fossile, petrified, numbed, non-existent like a statue, only a hint of it was there) and a lot of humor. These are my mental feelings, it could be that I'm projecting my emotions on the artworks, although I don't think I am. As for the artist himself I don't know very much about...

David Hockney is a bit of a playboy. He has affairs with many men (Homosexual) and jokes about it publicly. He pioneered Modernism along with Franz Marc (Another Artist I love) and is considered one of cornerstone artists of the 20th century.

I wrote a reasearch paper on child prodigies in the arts, and Akiane is one who I studied in depth. If anyone is interested in reading the paper, I can send it to you. I find the topic fascinating, myself, and my paper was well received.

From my research, I concluded that Akiane is, indeed, a child art prodigy, which is extremely rare. Most prodigies are in the domains of music and math. She is a prodigy because of her precocious skill level, self-determination, and "rage to master" her medium. Her drawings from age four are on the level of a 10 year old, and her paintings from 8-10 years old are on the skill level of a competent amateur adult artist.

However, as in all fields where children show precocious ability, hers is only skill-based. Child prodigies have only exceptional skill, not domain-changing new insights. They do not have the experience to make relevant creative contributions to their field. In fact, not many people do. Many child prodigies grow up to be only average or even sub-par as adults because to become great you need to be creative and break new ground. This leap is very difficult for child prodigies to make because they are often contented and successful with what they are doing. Most get "stuck" and stop challenging themselves, and the result is that amazing work comming from a child becomes average work from a young adult.

Akiane's imagery is idealistic and sentimental. She paints, babies, Jesus, kittens, and magical bubbles. But she's a child! I'm glad she's not making groundbreaking commentary on the state of our society, the corruptions of the art world, contemporaty politics, sexuality, or the angst in her soul.

From studying other child prodigies, I believe that Akiane's skill is absoultely incredible, but I highly doubt she will become a meaningful artist as an adult. She would need to make great leaps and strides in terms of content and subject in order to not pidgeon-hole herself into the genre of sentimental humanitarian and religious art. However, I think she's doing ehat she wants to do with her art, and that is honorable.

I am interested in her development and check her site from time to time. My favorites, though, are the simple drawings from when she was 5. The perspective in some of the faces is something most high- schoolers need to be taught to understand. Somehow, these communicate something more strongly than the paintings where we are hit over the head with a simplistic moral message.

what a talented little parrot.

this is the only reason why people are interested in her.

Agreed, also she'll probably regress at puberty and follow the path of other child prodigies, mental retardation.

I don't find her work to be impressive at all. A bit remarkable, given that she is so young, but it is certainly not "genius" in my opinion. I have seen more impressive artwork from young artists. Robert Crumb and his brothers did some amazing drawings as children, and both of Robert's children are and were remarkable artists from a young age.

This young lady's work looks, to me, like the style of velvet Elvis paintings. It also bothers me that her supposedly divinely inspired Jesus looks like an Arian prince. We don't know what Jesus looked like, but chances are he didn't look like a GQ underwear model!

Maybe her work will develop and get better when she is older... until then, I see nothing genius about it.

[quote="absalom"]

This young lady's work looks, to me, like the style of velvet Elvis paintings. It also bothers me that her supposedly divinely inspired Jesus looks like an Arian prince. We don't know what Jesus looked like, but chances are he didn't look like a GQ underwear model!
[quote]

haha. On the site they have a little story about how she found her Jesus model. Supposedly, she prayed and prayed for the right model, and one day, a CARPENTER walked through their door to do some work they had ordered on their house. And of course, he was the perfect Jesus.

And about genius, children are not geniuses (genii?), practically, ever. Genius involves mastery of the domain (which some child prodigies may have) but also creativity, and original contributions to the field which are valued by others in the field. Children don't have this. They are creative on a different level.

So, no, Akiane is certainly not a genius, and I doubt she ever will be. But her skill is extremely precocious, even if her paintings are, well, kind of lame. If you look at her work from a child development point of view, it's absolutely incredible. That said, I really don't like her work as art, but I'm still amazed by her abilities.