Van Gogh’s Language of Life: The Immersion Art Experience
by nxus Editor, Ashley Mozingo, MBA Transformative Cultural Critic (@coachmozingo)
The Siesta (La méridienne dit aussi La sieste) - Vincent Van Gogh - 1889-1890
To Life: Reflections on Van Gogh and the Necessity of Creation
Let me start by stating that I love art. I love art in a “I am going to use this as a tool or reference” way. There is a hidden magic in simply allowing yourself to experience something.
Browsing timelines, as one does, I was drawn into an upcoming experience featuring Vincent Van Gogh and his works reimagined. I shared it with my wife, and we both thought it looked like a fun change of pace in the “things to do” category.
Outside of early mentions of Van Gogh in art class in middle school, and a host of hip hop references, my connection or knowledge of him didn’t expand until I was introduced to some of his writing, my favorite medium. I am a words of affirmation lover. Beyond his recognizable sunflowers or starry skies, Van Gogh offers a living philosophy that creation is not a separate pursuit, but a human necessity.
Excerpt from Vincent Van Gogh’s letter to his brother Theo (July 1880):
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? … Let us not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives, and we obey them without realizing it. … Let us keep courage and try to be patient and gentle. And let us not mind being eccentric, and make distinction between right and wrong, between the permanent and the passing. Above all, let us love one another."
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” In those words lies his artistic practice and his way of living. In a time when we measure our worth by how visible, marketable, or validated we are, Van Gogh’s life offers us a different orientation: that creativity is not about being understood, but about being alive enough to express.
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience (https://vangoghexpo.com) invites you to walk through a series of Vincent’s most iconic works. This 360° digital art exhibition spreads across expansive walls—up to 10,000 sq ft of projection—surrounding you with swirling sunflowers, starry skies, and vibrant café scenes. The walls moved, the floor pulsed, and suddenly Van Gogh’s works were languages unfolding around us.
There are various touch points of Van Gogh’s works, writings and historical context throughout the exhibit. One special part of the immersion was the walkable The Yellow House in Arles experience.
Arles, 1888
The Bedroom - Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Arles, October 1888
Van Gogh Beyond the Myth
He dreamed of creating a “Studio of the South,” an artists’ collective where creators could live and work together. Art has always been about translation—the creation of new language. Every book, song, instrument, painting, business idea, or speech introduces a new way of expressing our conditions.
Van Gogh’s story is often told in shorthand: a poor painter, plagued by mental illness, dismissed in his own time, only to be celebrated after death. But beyond the tragedy, it is something purely human. Painting was not a luxury or even a career path—it was deep expression. He was a Preacher first. In 1879, he worked as a missionary in the Borinage region of Belgium, ministering to coal miners. Letters to his brother Theo reveal how deeply he tied creativity to his mental well-being and making art: “I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.” He was painting because his spirit demanded it. The canvas became both confessional and sanctuary. He often painted night skies, rich olive trees, and intimate portraits while living in isolation. Each stroke was a declaration that life, however heavy, was still worth perceiving and capturing in color.
Giant Peacock Moth - Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, May-June 1889
Oh, The Places You’ll Go…
Immersive Exhibits and the Shifting Gatekeepers of High Art
In 2024, while traveling to London, I had the opportunity to visit the National Gallery to see some of Van Gogh’s works in person. Sunflowers, The Crabs, and his Chair are a few pieces the museum holds. For centuries, “high art” has lived in marble halls and hushed museums — guarded by frames, curators. Exhibits like Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience fracture this model. A child can be wrapped in a sea of Van Gogh’s sunflowers in North Carolina. A grandmother can sit in a digital field and relax in the swirling colors in California.
Some critics argue that immersive exhibits turn art into spectacle — charging ticket prices that, ironically, can still exclude communities most in need of access. At their best, immersive displays destabilize the old hierarchies of who gets to interpret art. They blur the line between spectator and participant.
Van Gogh’s Chair - Vincent van Gogh (1888) on display The National Gallery London
From left to right, “Two Crabs” and “15 Sunflowers in Vase”- Vincent van Gogh (1880s) on display The National Gallery London
The National Gallery London
Choosing Life as Van Gogh’s Favorite Color
In my journey of learning to see art as wisdom, I’ve come up with a theory that Van Gogh’s favorite color was not yellow, blue, or muted tones. Maybe his favorite color was life. His art affirms this again and again: that love is deep, art is language, and every single day is special — even when it doesn’t feel like a perfect day.
We live in a culture where creativity is often commodified and turned into content, campaigns, and products. Yet Van Gogh, like many artists of the time, instills in us that the true purpose of creativity is to stay tethered to ourselves and connect us in shared likeness. Van Gogh reminds us that creativity is about intimacy with life.
Lessons For Today
I used this experience to recognize how technology can amplify the spirit of an artist’s work, making it more accessible, more collective, and in some ways more alive. Sitting in rooms, surrounded by strangers equally transfixed, I realized that Van Gogh’s work doesn’t belong to the individual gazer but to life. To witness it this way is to be reminded that art is not a possession, but a practice. We engage with this practice when we go to concerts, museums, dance halls, and other places of safety and commonality.
Each of us carries languages only we can release. When we create, we breathe those languages into the world — whether through painting, words, design, or the choices we make each day. This event is an invitation to remember that creativity is essential to the human experience. Especially in times of disruption and transformation, it is creativity that helps us see possibility, connection, and love where others might only see chaos.
Yes, Van Gogh was a brilliant artist, but he was also a person. Living a human experience in the realities of his environment, under the political circumstances of his time, loving his friends and his siblings, a person with dreams to be, express, write, advocate, and live.
If you can attend one of these traveling exhibits, do so for the connections, to art, strangers, and yourself. To life, and to the creative acts—large and small—we to attempt every day.
Almond Blossom - Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, February 1890
Contributor Bio:
Ashley Mozingo is a life coach, writer, and transformative cultural critic who bridges creativity, community, and social change. With a marketing and public administration background, she explores the intersection of culture, identity, and innovation. She reimagines pathways towards equity and creativity and offers a perspective on how art, media, and movements shape collective experience.
