Creating a Perfect Art - From Imperfection

During my stay in Taiwan a few years back, I happened to visit the National Palace Museum of the country in Taipei. The Museum is one of the largest in the world, with over 65,000 ancient Chinese artifacts and, this is in fact, is the national museum of the Republic of China. Floors and floors of artifacts and relics, stand as a proof to that!

'Jadeite Cabbage' by ©© WikiCommons/Peellden
Derivative ©© Flickr/Seena Joy

Once while in the art gallery, I noticed a large crowd in front of something. I found a glass case that was the center of attraction and lots of 'ooh's and 'wow's. There it was a beautiful cabbage carved in green jade - a marvelous piece of art that captures anyone's eye.  And more than the art itself, I was mesmerized by the reading of it, on a nearby pamphlet.

Here it goes. “This jadeite, part green and part white, which is now a wonderful Chinese cabbage, would be considered mere second-rate material full of impurities if it was to be made into usual vases, jars, or ornaments, because of the cracks and blemishes that came with it. However, the artisan ingeniously transformed the rock into a lifelike vegetable of leafy green and white stems, with all unappealing rifts now hidden invisible amid the veins. And the discoloured spots take on the marks of snow and frost. So with a stroke of genius, defects turn perfect. Beauty is in the detail and creativity works wonder.” That is, by the magic wand of creativity, the clever craftsman turned the cracks and discoloured blotches to create a beautiful art. Anything can be made perfect by creativity, if one have it or utilize it.


People, usually have the tendency to focus on the imperfections, overlooking the positives of a person or a thing. Moreover, never the thought to use the flaws to an advantage, will cross one's mind, let alone, turn it into perfectionism. Well, this jadeite was a perfect example of how an imperfect thing could be made perfect by creativity.

We are always of the thought that beauty lies in perfection. In fact, some of the best arts of the world have been modeled around imperfection and imbalance. The imperfect becomes a thing of beauty with the creative mind of the artist who beholds the beauty in the imperfect. In some amazing, beautiful photographs, if you happen to see the real thing or the place photographed, it might not all have any extraordinary beauty or something special to it when compared to its photographed version. It is the creative power of the photographer the one, that turns it into an art of perfectionism.

Many withhold their talents or ability due to the fear that they are just imperfect. Since they believe that they are imperfect, they lose their belief in themselves. After all, it’s how you try and make it perfect, is all that matters. 

Everything in this world has its own beauty. It depends on how it is being perceived. A true artisan or a true perceiver can make a how imperfect a thing into a masterpiece of beauty. I believe that in every person there is a true artist, a true beholder, which only by time, one can realize that, and once realized, he will be able to mould in his mind the imperfect to perfect. And with that creative power and right attitude, anything can be created into existence and made happen.

“Beauty is truth, truth is beauty. You know on earth, and all you need to know”- John Keats