--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think there's any single finished…" description: "\"I don't think there's any single finished point for a work. It's done when something's happening with the work that feels like a balanced, coherent dis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/jessica-stockholder-24425_balanced_i-don-t-think-there-s-any-single-finishe_1994649.jpg" --- # I don't think there's any single finished point for a… ![“I don't think there's any single finished point for a work. It's done when something's happening with the work that feels like a balanced, coherent disharmony. That's one way to say it. And where if I keep working on it, to discover and struggle with new problems, I'll obliterate the ones I was…” quote by Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/jessica-stockholder-24425_balanced_i-don-t-think-there-s-any-single-finishe_1994649.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/jessica-stockholder-24425_balanced_i-don-t-think-there-s-any-single-finishe_1994649.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/jessica-stockholder-24425_balanced_i-don-t-think-there-s-any-single-finishe_1994649.jpg) > “I don't think there's any single finished point for a work. It's done when something's happening with the work that feels like a balanced, coherent disharmony. That's one way to say it. And where if I keep working on it, to discover and struggle with new problems, I'll obliterate the ones I was working on. I could keep working on it, but it'd become something different. And I value what's here, at the moment.” [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A work is never truly finished; it evolves as new challenges arise, and its value lies in its present state. **In simple terms:** Art is always evolving, valued now. Key Takeaway Embrace the present state of your work. Themes creativity evolution balance process valuation Mood reflective contemplative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - studio practice - exhibition planning - creative problem solving - personal artistic development Key Concepts artistic process dynamic equilibrium iteration Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide when a piece is complete enough? - What new problems can you welcome? A Different Perspective The notion of “finished” can limit exploration and growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balanced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balanced/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Disharmony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disharmony/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Finished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finished/) [Finished Point](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finished-point-3476137/) [Happening Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happening-work-3476139/) [Happenings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happenings/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [One way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-way/) [Point Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-work-595534/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Single Finished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-finished-3476138/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Working it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-it/) ## Related quotes > [“The planet is finished with us, at this point -”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/the-planet-is-finished-with-us-at-this-point/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I've got nothing left to lose at this point. The work I've done is out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-lange/i-ve-got-nothing-left-to-lose-at-this-point-the-work-i-ve-done-is-out/) [Jessica Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-lange/) > [The point of my work is to show that culture and education aren't simply hobbies or minor influences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bourdieu/the-point-of-my-work-is-to-show-that-culture-and-education-aren-t/) [Pierre Bourdieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bourdieu/) > [A leader shapes and shares a vision, which gives point to the work of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-handy/a-leader-shapes-and-shares-a-vision-which-gives-point-to-the-work-of/) [Charles Handy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-handy/) > [If making an error doesn't make you mad, what's the point? Why put all the work in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/troy-glaus/if-making-an-error-doesn-t-make-you-mad-what-s-the-point-why-put-all/) [Troy Glaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/troy-glaus/) > [That is why every brother and sister will react differently according to how they learn to defend themselves and adapt to different circumstances. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-is-why-every-brother-and-sister-will-react-differently-according/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Each individual composes the music of his own life. If he injures another, he brings disharmony. When his sphere is disturbed, he is disturbed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/each-individual-composes-the-music-of-his-own-life-if-he-injures/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [Lack of harmony comes when I feel that I know how to do something better than you. Lack of harmony is the song and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/lack-of-harmony-comes-when-i-feel-that-i-know-how-to-do-something/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [We exhaust ourselves more from the tension and the consequences of internal disharmony than from hard, unremitting work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/we-exhaust-ourselves-more-from-the-tension-and-the-consequences-of/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [Health and disease don't just happen to us. They are active processes issuing from inner harmony or disharmony, profoundly affected by our states of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/health-and-disease-don-t-just-happen-to-us-they-are-active-processes/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [All success in sports and athletics, from the Zen point of view, comes from the mind. No matter what kind of shape your body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/all-success-in-sports-and-athletics-from-the-zen-point-of-view-comes/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you believe that man is inherently flawed-what religious people call 'original sin'-it follows that man, if left to his own devices, will tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-dreher/if-you-believe-that-man-is-inherently-flawed-what-religious-people/) [Rod Dreher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-dreher/) > [The best pictures differentiate themselves by nuances...a tiny relationship - either a harmony or a disharmony - that creates a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-haas/the-best-pictures-differentiate-themselves-by-nuances-a-tiny/) [Ernst Haas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-haas/) > [Every word has its fragrance: there is a harmony and a disharmony of fragrances, and hence of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-word-has-its-fragrance-there-is-a-harmony-and-a-disharmony-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Disharmony at home or work is toxic to a person’s physical disposition and mental health.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/disharmony-at-home-or-work-is-toxic-to-a-person-s-physical/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) ## More by Jessica Stockholder > [I think what kids do is play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/i-think-what-kids-do-is-play/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [I am more interested in asking questions about the edges of things and thoughts. So the objects I use are not initially the subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/i-am-more-interested-in-asking-questions-about-the-edges-of-things/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [Handmade things tend to be so expensive that only a small part of the population can afford them. And yet making things with hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/handmade-things-tend-to-be-so-expensive-that-only-a-small-part-of-the/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [I've always loved color because it's a little bit like music. I love that it seems to be both physical and ephemeral and engages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/i-ve-always-loved-color-because-it-s-a-little-bit-like-music-i-love/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [I work in response to the limitations of any situation and in relationship to what's possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/i-work-in-response-to-the-limitations-of-any-situation-and-in/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [Paint is the skin of a painting: it is fiction. In houses, it disguises the plumbing and wiring and studs and nails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/paint-is-the-skin-of-a-painting-it-is-fiction-in-houses-it-disguises/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [I feel a bit like a magpie attracted to shiny things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/i-feel-a-bit-like-a-magpie-attracted-to-shiny-things/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [Your hands learn to do things that you could spend a whole day trying to write about and articulate. There's a discomfort associated with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/your-hands-learn-to-do-things-that-you-could-spend-a-whole-day-trying/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [I suppose I consider my work a kind of picture making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/i-suppose-i-consider-my-work-a-kind-of-picture-making/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [In a park, you are not working with studio materials or a flat piece of paper. You have grass and the people and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/in-a-park-you-are-not-working-with-studio-materials-or-a-flat-piece/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [There's something about materials like copper, woods, stone, trees, shells. You walk outside and these materials are part of the world before we touched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/there-s-something-about-materials-like-copper-woods-stone-trees/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [Things have character. So I'm interested in how the character of the thing might function as a protagonist in what isn't a narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/things-have-character-so-i-m-interested-in-how-the-character-of-the/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [I don't fetishize objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/i-don-t-fetishize-objects/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [The very formal, beautiful, composed order that I make with paint and color is freighted with objects, but like leaves falling from a tree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/the-very-formal-beautiful-composed-order-that-i-make-with-paint-and/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) > [Pictures often sit inside of pictures, but the edges of pictures and objects are rarely subjected to serious challenge; we are presented with distinct,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-stockholder/pictures-often-sit-inside-of-pictures-but-the-edges-of-pictures-and/) [Jessica Stockholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) [Explore all 24 Jessica Stockholder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-stockholder/) ## More Balanced quotes > [There were moments, of course. Those small spaces in time, too soon gone, when everything seems to stand still, and existence is balanced on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/there-were-moments-of-course-those-small-spaces-in-time-too-soon-gone/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [If our homes should provide anything, they should provide a sense of who we are and how we got here, a sense of connection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-conran/if-our-homes-should-provide-anything-they-should-provide-a-sense-of/) [Terence Conran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-conran/) > [But change must always be balanced with some degree of consistency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-d-burton/but-change-must-always-be-balanced-with-some-degree-of-consistency/) [Ron D. Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-d-burton/) > [I want my whole life to be a great work of art, not just my art. And that means paying attention to my entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel/i-want-my-whole-life-to-be-a-great-work-of-art-not-just-my-art-and/) [Jewel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel/) > [The cultural integration of psychedelics won't happen overnight, and the question of young people is perhaps the most difficult involved. 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But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-sims/i-do-try-to-watch-it-i-m-not-saying-you-have-to-put-yourself-on-a/) [Molly Sims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-sims/) [Browse all 909 Balanced quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balanced/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't think there's any single finished point for a work. It's done when something's happening with the work that feels like a balanced, coherent disharmony. That's one way to say it. And where if I keep working on it, to discover and struggle with new problems, I'll obliterate the ones I was working on. I could keep working on it, but it'd become something different. 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