Bell Hooks: Art On My Mind

This week I’ve been reading bell hooks’ Art on My Mind: Visual Politics, which explores how art shapes the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Hooks argues that representation is never neutral, that “the function of art is to do more than tell it like it is; it’s to imagine what is possible.” I love this idea that art can open up new ways of being, not just mirror existing ones.

What strikes me is her insistence that emotion and politics belong together. Hooks resists the idea that critical art must be detached or purely intellectual. Instead, she treats feeling as a legitimate way of knowing. That feels close to my own practice, where I work through ideas using beauty, sentiment, and ornament. I’ve sometimes worried that my focus on whimsy or prettiness makes my work seem less serious, but hooks reframes that, softness and emotion can be radical when they push against systems that reward detachment or cynicism.

Her writing also makes me think about visibility: who gets represented, and whose images are valued. Hooks calls for art that makes space for new subjectivities, for ways of seeing that are compassionate and complex. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t have to be loud to be political, it can also be tender, reflective, and rooted in care. That’s the kind of politics I want my work to hold.