"A testament to the power of art to mend, enlighten, and empower. I felt this book in my heart."

—Elizabeth Kilpatrick, Sr. Vice President, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

Art, like love, just is.

Giving, Receiving, Asking

for nothing. Just whole.

In that pristine moment of being with the art in front of me, an expansive swell fills my chest. Tears spring to my eyes. The art transfixes me, and I cannot look away. Sometimes my legs feel weak, wobbly. My heart and breathing speed up to keep up with my emotion. It's not an out-of-body experience but a full-body one.

Looking at art is my sacred journey. It is my spiritual practice. It is my meditation cushion, and my temple, and my altar, and my pew. It is my challenger. It is my refuge. Art is one of my tools for self-development, just as much as all of the books I've read. I don't look at art to learn about the art. I look at art to learn about myself. I look at art to learn about the world and my place in it. I look at art in order to fully understand and embody who I am, who I want to be, and how I want to be. My body slows, my mind slows, and I can just be with—with art and with myself. The art has changed me.

A MEMOIR BUILT WITH ART

Art Is About Being Whole: A Memoir explores Cindy Ingram's journey of finding who she is underneath all the layers of protection. Each essay incorporates a work of art that encapsulates growth experienced at pivotal moments in the author's life. Each piece of art is a touch point to come back to again and again as she acknowledges where she has been and where she is headed. From a Great White Shark swimming stealthily beneath burnout to a futuristic painting of a mask connecting the author with the humanity of her long-lost biological father to a succession of painted eyes clarifying her spirituality, each artwork helps Ingram put words and images to thoughts, feelings, and transformations that often feel too hard to explain.

How do you explain a feeling? That's what artists do.

MY HOPE FOR YOU: A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR

I write this book to illustrate how art is more than just something to appreciate or learn about or look at, but that it has the power to heal, give clarity, hold space, and do magic. In my darkest times, deep in grief, anxiety, depression, and shame, art has always been there for me. It was how I experienced the fullness of life and the depths of connection before I did the work of coming to a place of wholeness. A place where I feel like I know and love who I am, without shame, without feeling the need to pretend to be something else, without the constant need to fix my broken self. Using works of art to show this is a natural choice because I have dedicated my entire life to sharing the magic of art with anyone who will listen, and now, that is you.

I hope as you read these pages and be with these artworks, you find a safe place for you—safe with the art that I explore in the book and safe with me as I share my heart with you.

When I look at an artwork, I am compelled to put myself into it, to find my place in it. I am not presuming to know the pain or internal world of the artist. The only truth is the one you find inside of you. I have become a more true version of myself during by being with art. Now, I invite you to use my story and these artworks as tools to find the truest version of you.