I rarely draw what I see. I draw what I feel in my body.

Host: The evening was settling into a quiet calm, the soft glow of the lamp casting gentle shadows across the room. Jack sat near the window, his gaze focused on the street below, though his mind seemed to be elsewhere. Jeeny was across from him, her legs curled beneath her, a sketchbook open in her lap, but she wasn’t drawing. The silence between them was comfortable, but there was something lingering, as though the words of Barbara Hepworth were waiting to be explored.

Host: Hepworth’s words—“I rarely draw what I see. I draw what I feel in my body”—hung in the air, quiet but powerful. The idea that art wasn’t just about replicating the world around us, but about expressing something deeper, something that resonated within the artist, felt both beautiful and profound. Jack was the first to speak, his voice carrying a hint of curiosity.

Jack: “You know, it’s interesting—Hepworth’s saying she doesn’t draw what’s in front of her, but what she feels in her body. It makes sense, but it’s still kind of hard for me to imagine. I always thought art was about representation—capturing what’s real, what’s physical. But what if it’s more about emotion, about capturing a feeling instead of an image?”

Jeeny: She smiled softly, setting her sketchbook aside and looking at him with a quiet understanding. “I think that’s exactly it. Art isn’t just about the physical world, about what we can see. It’s about translating what we feel into a language that can be shared. Hepworth’s saying that she doesn’t just want to represent what’s in front of her; she wants to capture the experience of it, the feeling that it stirs in her. It’s not about the image—it’s about the emotion behind it.”

Host: The room seemed to grow stiller, the weight of her words sinking in. Art, then, wasn’t just about mimicking the world around us, but about expressing the inner experience, the feelings, the sensations that were often difficult to put into words. The conversation wasn’t just about drawing or sculpture—it was about the deeper language of human expression. Jack’s gaze softened as he processed the shift in perspective.

Jack: His voice was now softer, almost thoughtful: “I guess that’s what makes art so personal. It’s not just what’s in front of you; it’s about how you feel about it, what it stirs inside of you. Hepworth’s saying that art is a way of connecting to something deeper, something that’s beyond just what you see with your eyes. It’s a way of expressing what’s hard to put into words, something that lives in the body itself.”

Jeeny: She nodded, her voice full of gentleness: “Exactly. That’s what makes art so powerful. It’s a reflection of our internal worlds. When we look at a piece of art, we’re not just seeing a representation of the external world—we’re feeling the emotions, the experiences, the sensations of the artist. It’s a way to connect with something beyond the surface. Hepworth’s drawings weren’t just of things, but of her experience of them.”

Host: The conversation seemed to unfold naturally, the weight of Hepworth’s words continuing to settle into a shared understanding. Jack’s usual focus on logic and structure seemed to give way to a more intuitive approach. Art wasn’t just about what could be seen or measured—it was about capturing something felt, something lived. The room felt more peaceful now, the quiet of the evening reflecting the quiet realization that the most profound art is not just visual, but emotional.

Jack: His voice was calmer, almost as if he had arrived at a new understanding: “So it’s not just about technique, or replicating what’s there. It’s about the emotion that comes through, about expressing what we experience physically, emotionally, and mentally. Art is a way of translating what we can’t always express in words into something tangible.”

Jeeny: Her smile was gentle, almost reassuring: “Exactly. Art is a bridge between the inner world and the outer world. It’s not about capturing a perfect likeness—it’s about capturing truth. The truth of the artist’s experience, and the truth of what they feel in their body, in their heart, in their soul.”

Host: The room felt quieter, the air filled with the realization that art, at its core, was not just about appearance or representation. It was about expression, about translating the complexities of the human experience into a form that could be shared. Jack and Jeeny sat in that understanding, knowing that sometimes, the most powerful art is the kind that speaks to the deeper, unspoken parts of us. The night continued, but the conversation had already shifted something inside them—an appreciation for the language of the body, and the language of the heart that art can uniquely capture.