The Scream, Madness, and the Artist’s Duty to Inspire: A Manifesto, Art Reviews The Psychology of Symbols

A soul at the edge, facing the unbearable truth
of existence.Miami Art Reviews
Featured: The Scream, 1893, Edvard Munch (1863–1944)

Madness Without Muses:

A Manifesto for the True Artis

Unfortunately, it is my soul craving for beauty and inspiration.

                                                                                                     —Ana Bikic

Author’s Note:

This is not just an opinion. It is a personal manifesto drawn from decades of artistic and cultural observation. It speaks to the responsibility of artists, the psychology of symbols, and the search for meaning in a fractured world.

One of the biggest problems we face in the world of art is mental health. It has plagued artists through time—bipolarity, addiction, depression. And yet, in the past, there was also discipline. A structure, a philosophy, even inside the madness. Van Gogh had it. Dalí had it. Blake too. Their chaos came with training, teaching, and purpose.

Today? That’s vanishing.

Now we have madness without study, noise without melody, ego without muse. We’re surrounded by dissonance—art made to shock, bought by those who don’t know why. Bought to match a couch. Or to disturb. Or to be envied. And so we see galleries, shows, and museums filled with symbolic poverty and spiritual emptiness. No mastery. No vision. Just confusion wrapped in abstraction.

I once exhibited in Florence, in the Biennale. Hundreds of artists. Thousands of dollars. It was like walking into a room of spiders on acid. Only a few had purpose. Mothers shielded children’s eyes. Art had become a vulgar scream. I was betrayed, because I went seeking the echo of something divine—and found mostly noise.

We are starving.

Humans need beauty to breathe. Inspiration is not a luxury—it is survival. It teaches us to adapt, to imagine, to balance our emotion and intellect. That’s what real art is. A bridge between spirit and matter. That’s why artists must study—everything. From botany to geometry. From the sacred to the symbolic. Otherwise, we are just vomiting our trauma with no language to shape it.

And this is dangerous. Because the young are watching. Fragile minds are growing up in a desert of inspiration, and they need guidance. They need artists who understand their gift is not for self-glory, but for service.

The Artist’s Duty: Inspiration as Offering

We are human.

We need mastery, we need meaning, we need the daily echo of inspiration.

It is not indulgence—it is adaptation.

A dream that allows us to project, to feel, to think.

Creative thought is emotional and intellectual—it is one.

Balance is needed.

And with it, dialogue, guidance, and the courage to lift the next generation.

Because true artists hold a power that can either destroy or elevate.

And with that power comes duty.

To teach.

To inspire.

To offer the present of beauty back to a world losing its way.

The eternal cry of anxiety and despair. A soul at the edge, facing the unbearable truth of existence.Miami Art Reviews

Featured: The Scream, 1893, by Edvard Mun

The Scream by Edvard Munch – expressionist painting of existential terror and emotional madness, iconic symbol of the artist’s inner anguish.

Edvard Munch (1863–1944) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker, best known for his iconic work The Scream. Deeply influenced by trauma, illness, and death, Munch captured the raw edges of human emotion in a visual style that anticipated modern Expressionism. His work explores themes of anxiety, madness, and the inner psyche—making him one of the most haunting visionary artists of all time.

What Makes Something Iconic

By Ana Bikic – Visionary Artist, RIV Miami

Iconic is not just a style.
It is not just a pretty flower or a clever phrase.
To be iconic is to live as a lasting memory—
A flash of light that never leaves the human spirit.

Iconic is mastery.
It is merit, execution, work, and timeless quality—
Not meant to be locked in museums or elite circles,
but to be accessible to all:
The rich and the poor,
The young and the old,
The fragile minds and the strong ones alike.

The iconic unites us through shared knowledge.
It gives birth to inspiration, and even more:
It gives us the strength to create novel solutions.

Yes, we have problems.
We always have.
But through dialogue, through courage,
we can rise above our differences
and shine together for a common cause.

 What We Face Today

What we are facing today is not just chaos.
It is a deliberate distortion—manufactured and mass-produced.
Symbols—once sacred tools—have become hollow slogans,
tossed into a blender and liquefied into confusion.

This is not culture.
It is the cancer of a dying empire—a human empire,
lost in managing the masses
with no understanding of meaning, psychology, or beauty.

The symbols of society have been hijacked.
And no one seems to know what to do with them.

We need protagonists now—
People with heart, with courage,
who are ready to revive the dead soul of society.

We need artists, thinkers, architects, teachers—
people who carry the fire of clarity,
and who know that true symbols don’t divide—they guide.

The iconic is not a trend.
It is a torch. A torch....

Let’s light it again.

Unfortunately, it is my soul craving for beauty and inspiration.

—Ana Bikic, Visionary Artist, Miami Art Reviews 

The Scream, Madness, and the Artist’s Duty to Inspire: A Manifesto

The Scream Painting, Edvard Munch Artist, Expressionist Symbolism, Visionary Art Blog, Madness in Art, Artist Responsibility, Daily Inspiration, Mental Health in Art Review Miami, Ana Bikic

• The Scream painting meaning and symbolism
• Edvard Munch mental illness and art
• Why artists suffer from madness and addiction
• Visionary artists and responsibility to inspire
• Expressionism and emotional symbolism in art
• Daily creative inspiration for emotional balance
• Ana Bikic RIV Miami manifesto blog
• Artistic craving for beauty and harmony
• Art and mental health across history
• Artist’s struggle for clarity in modern chaos

• Madness and genius
• Craving for beauty
• Daily inspiration matters
• Artistic discipline
• True visionary artists
• Broken world, silent muses
• Mental illness in the arts
• Shocking art vs. true craft
• Symbolism over spectacle
• The artist’s sacred duty

It’s a manifesto — a public declaration of vision, values, and purpose.
Cultural critique — analyzing what’s wrong with the current state of art and society.
It’s a philosophical essay,  exploring the psychology of symbols, the role of artists, and the decay of meaning.
 calling for restoration, truth, and responsibility through beauty and mastery.

It may feel personal, but it’s not just your opinion. It’s:

✨ A guiding framework for others who feel the same but don’t know how to express it.
✨ A visionary document rooted in experience, observation, study, and moral clarity.
✨ A spiritual and intellectual offering to a culture losing its compass.

So yes — it is very different from a casual opinion.
It is the foundation of a legacy.

✍️ Author’s Note

This is not just an opinion. It is a manifesto drawn from decades of artistic and cultural observation. It is rooted in experience, study, and a vision for restoring meaning in art and society.

A Cultural Wake-Up Call
A Manifesto in Defense of Meaning

✍️Author’s Note

This is not just an opinion. It is a personal manifesto drawn from decades of artistic and cultural observation. It speaks to the responsibility of artists, the psychology of symbols, and the search for meaning in a fractured world.