--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think my life has been transformed by…" description: "\"I think my life has been transformed by the ability to take things that exist in the world and look at them more closely. I think that's what art does ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/kehinde-wiley-1194_art_i-think-my-life-has-been-transformed-by_3099930.jpg" --- # I think my life has been transformed by the ability to… ![“I think my life has been transformed by the ability to take things that exist in the world and look at them more closely. I think that's what art does at its best: it allows us to slow down.” quote by Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/kehinde-wiley-1194_art_i-think-my-life-has-been-transformed-by_3099930.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/kehinde-wiley-1194_art_i-think-my-life-has-been-transformed-by_3099930.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/kehinde-wiley-1194_art_i-think-my-life-has-been-transformed-by_3099930.jpg) > “I think my life has been transformed by the ability to take things that exist in the world and look at them more closely. I think that's what art does at its best: it allows us to slow down.” [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art encourages close observation, transforming perception and slowing down daily life, revealing deeper meaning. **In simple terms:** Art makes us observe closely and slow down. Key Takeaway Use art to practice mindful observation. Themes perception mindfulness transformation Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - museum visits - personal reflection - creative practice Key Concepts visual culture psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does slowing down change understanding? - What everyday moments can become art? A Different Perspective Overanalysis can hinder spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-does/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best/) [Closely Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/closely-think-4769771/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Transformed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-transformed-562426/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [Think Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-art/) [Think Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-life/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I watch the game pretty closely and think of a few things that I'd do perhaps differently to what's going on and throw up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-smith/i-watch-the-game-pretty-closely-and-think-of-a-few-things-that-i-d-do/) [Steve Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-smith/) > [At its best, what art does is, it points to who we as human beings and what we as human beings value. And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/at-its-best-what-art-does-is-it-points-to-who-we-as-human-beings-and/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I start a picture and I finish it. I don't think about art while I work. I try to think about life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-michel-basquiat/i-start-a-picture-and-i-finish-it-i-don-t-think-about-art-while-i/) [Jean-Michel Basquiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-michel-basquiat/) > [I don't think about art when I'm working. I think about life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-michel-basquiat/i-don-t-think-about-art-when-i-m-working-i-think-about-life/) [Jean-Michel Basquiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-michel-basquiat/) > [I don't think about art when I'm working. I try to think about life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-michel-basquiat/i-don-t-think-about-art-when-i-m-working-i-try-to-think-about-life/) [Jean-Michel Basquiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-michel-basquiat/) > [“The secret is to open yourself up. You never know where the next breakthrough will come. The door opens, and from that moment on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-secret-is-to-open-yourself-up-you-never-know-where-the-next/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never imagined when I began writing in the early 1960s I'd become professional and my life would be transformed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-townsend/i-never-imagined-when-i-began-writing-in-the-early-1960s-i-d-become/) [Sue Townsend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-townsend/) > [“If we could simply live in the light of our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit, our daily life would be transformed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/if-we-could-simply-live-in-the-light-of-our-bodies-being-temples-of/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [Your life will be transformed when you make peace with your shadow. The caterpillar will become a breathtakingly beautiful butterfly. You will no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-ford/your-life-will-be-transformed-when-you-make-peace-with-your-shadow-2/) [Debbie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-ford/) > [It's not just a question of doing what you love for a living. It's about doing what you love with love. Then your life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rasheed-ogunlaru/it-s-not-just-a-question-of-doing-what-you-love-for-a-living-it-s/) [Rasheed Ogunlaru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rasheed-ogunlaru/) > [Your LiFe will be transformed when you make peace with your shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-ford/your-life-will-be-transformed-when-you-make-peace-with-your-shadow/) [Debbie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-ford/) > [My life has been transformed by great teachers all the way...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goldblum/my-life-has-been-transformed-by-great-teachers-all-the-way/) [Jeff Goldblum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goldblum/) > [There is no true joy in a life lived closed up in the little shell of the self. When you take one step to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/there-is-no-true-joy-in-a-life-lived-closed-up-in-the-little-shell-of/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [“The quiet power of a life transformed by the grace of God is so explosive that it can redirect the course of human events”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-foster/the-quiet-power-of-a-life-transformed-by-the-grace-of-god-is-so/) [Richard Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-foster/) > [“When you know what you know, live life in a transformed living, it's only a matter of time before people ask……what is your secret?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-frost/when-you-know-what-you-know-live-life-in-a-transformed-living-it-s/) [Anita Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-frost/) ## More by Kehinde Wiley > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The erotic and the art historical imagination is something that gets very little play when people talk about my work, and when they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/the-erotic-and-the-art-historical-imagination-is-something-that-gets/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [One of the weirdest things that happened to artists and art criticism was this moment when everyone got cynical and stopped believing in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/one-of-the-weirdest-things-that-happened-to-artists-and-art-criticism/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [At its best, what art does is, it points to who we as human beings and what we as human beings value. And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/at-its-best-what-art-does-is-it-points-to-who-we-as-human-beings-and/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [My style is in the 21st century. If you look at the process, it goes from photography through Photoshop, where certain features are heightened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/my-style-is-in-the-21st-century-if-you-look-at-the-process-it-goes/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think the world that I grew up in was like being in this sort of magical artistic garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-the-world-that-i-grew-up-in-was-like-being-in-this-sort-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [It was something that came sort of matter-of-factually. Because there - it's like really - real honest engagement with the people around me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/it-was-something-that-came-sort-of-matter-of-factually-because-there/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [We're wired to be empathetic and to care about the needs of others, but also to be curious about others. And I think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/we-re-wired-to-be-empathetic-and-to-care-about-the-needs-of-others/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Painting is situational. And my particular situation exists within gender, race, class, sexuality, nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/painting-is-situational-and-my-particular-situation-exists-within/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [There were certain expectations that were assumed of me as a young black American 20th-century - then 20th-century artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/there-were-certain-expectations-that-were-assumed-of-me-as-a-young/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think, something that you might be able to locate in the work that I'm creating today: the ability to look at a black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-something-that-you-might-be-able-to-locate-in-the-work-that-i/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I remember the first time I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and saw a Kerry James Marshall painting with black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-remember-the-first-time-i-went-to-the-los-angeles-county-museum-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I believe that artists should be part of the culture. I think that my work clearly bears that out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-believe-that-artists-should-be-part-of-the-culture-i-think-that-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-guess-art-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Just physically, if you looked at the house that I grew up in, my mother created this greenhouse. And surrounded the entire property. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/just-physically-if-you-looked-at-the-house-that-i-grew-up-in-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) [Explore all 275 Kehinde Wiley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think my life has been transformed by the ability to take things that exist in the world and look at them more closely. 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