Why the real medium of contemporary art is how we think
One of the truly inspiring parts of Cindy Foley’s work is how she reimagines the artist’s role. Rather than seeing the artist simply as a creator of objects, Foley invites us to view the artist as someone who skilfully navigates complexity—an engaged thinker exploring uncertainty, potential, and meaning.
This perspective feels especially relevant now, as creative practice is shifting from mastering just one medium to exploring systems, ideas, and experiences. The artist is becoming less of a creator of objects and more of a curious explorer—someone who uses creative thinking to discover ways the world is seen, interpreted, and understood.
In this model, art isn’t just about creating something; it’s about truly thinking it through and exploring new ideas.
Thinking as the Throughline
In my own projects—Kinetic Becoming, The Forever Student, Imagination 419, and The Artist’s Journal—the one thing they all share isn’t the medium or format. It’s the mindset that unites them.
Every project, in its unique way, explores how ideas transform into tangible forms. It’s fascinating to see the different approaches and perspectives each one brings to this creative journey.
Understanding how perception shapes meaning, how experience translates into structure, and how creativity functions as a continuous journey of learning can truly enrich our appreciation for the world around us. Some of these projects are physical, others are digital, and some exist entirely in language. Yet, they all share the same fundamental question: how do we make sense of what we’re experiencing while we’re still part of it?
Foley’s work beautifully captures that natural instinct. She describes creativity as a way of embracing complexity rather than trying to simplify it—a gentle process of staying open to questions instead of rushing to find answers.
That way of thinking is really freeing. It shows us that not knowing something isn’t a setback at all—it’s actually where everything begins.
The Medium Is Not the Message
In traditional art discussions, the medium often gets a lot of attention. Are you a painter? A sculptor? A photographer? Or maybe a digital artist? These labels are helpful, but they can also be a bit restricting. They suggest that the material itself shapes the artwork.
Foley offers a different perspective on that idea.
She sees materials as just tools to explore ideas, but what truly matters is the quality of your attention—the way you observe, question, connect, and adapt. It’s about being fully present and engaged in the process.
Looking at it from this side:
Clay serves as a mirror, inviting us to see perception in a new light. Digital projections open up exciting possibilities for sharing our imagination with others. Writing turns into a thoughtful map, helping us follow how meaning develops over time. Together, these art forms show us how creative expression can beautifully shape our understanding.The medium doesn’t disappear. But it becomes secondary. It’s no longer the core identity of the work. It’s the interface between thinking and experience.
Or put more simply: the medium is just how the idea appears, not what the idea truly is.
Creativity as Cognitive Flexibility
A key idea in Foley’s thinking is that creativity isn’t just about being original. Instead, it’s about having cognitive flexibility—the wonderful ability to see things from different angles, handle uncertainty with ease, and stay open to many possible meanings.
She happily describes creativity as a wonderful set of mental habits: asking better questions, exploring multiple possibilities, reframing problems, connecting unrelated ideas, and learning through iteration. These habits open up a world of exciting possibilities for growth and innovation.These aren’t artistic techniques. They’re thinking skills.
This means that an artist’s main focus isn’t just about mastering tools; it’s about nurturing perception. It’s about learning to notice patterns around you, sitting comfortably with uncertainty, and allowing ideas to grow naturally without rushing them into final forms.
In this way, the studio transforms into more than just a place of production; it becomes a welcoming space for exploration. Here, the focus isn’t solely on efficiency, but on cultivating awareness and understanding.
The Artist as Navigator
Viewing the artist as a curious explorer truly transforms how we see creative work. Instead of focusing on: What am I making? we shift to a deeper, more meaningful question: What am I trying to understand?The artwork becomes a trace of that exploration—a record of thinking in motion. It’s not just a result. It’s evidence of a process: decisions made, questions asked, paths followed and abandoned.
This reflects how contemporary creative practice often develops naturally over time. Projects usually don’t start with fixed outcomes; instead, they grow through research, thoughtful reflection, iterative processes, and ongoing dialogue with materials, technologies, and experiences.
The artist is now fully immersed within the work, no longer observing from afar but engaging directly from inside the system. They’re learning and growing alongside it, becoming an integral part of the process.
Attention as the Real Material
What Foley beautifully points out is something many artists genuinely feel but sometimes find hard to express: the true essence of art isn’t just clay, pixels, or words. It’s attention.
It’s curiosity.
It’s cognitive flexibility.Those are the true mediums. Everything else is just a surface they happen to move through.
This way of thinking is pretty inspiring in a gentle way. It encourages us to focus less on material things and more on being aware of what’s around us. It’s about moving from just having answers to staying curious and exploring things over time.
In a world so driven by speed, productivity, and the desire to be noticed, taking a moment to slow down can be one of the most meaningful creative choices you make. Being present and understanding that thoughtful reflection is a real form of art can truly make a difference. It’s not just about the artist as a producer or a brand, but about the artist as an explorer—navigating through the complexity with attention, both as their guide and their craft.
Hands to clay, eyes to the future.
