crazed artist

Going back to Plato's "Ion," discuss the idea of the artist's inspiration as divine madness in relation to "Belly of an Architect," "Artemisia," or "Camille Claudel."

Camille Claudel had what people called "mud lust," a yearning for the mud or clay that would later become somewhat of an extension of Camille herself. This lust for mud later turned into her divine madness that would be her inspiration for later works. Camille was continually determined to cultivate her mud so that she could touch it and feel what she could create; even if that meant defying her mother and worrying her brother. She would stop at nothing and would listen to no one who would come in between her craft and passion for mud and sculpture.
The movie portrayed Camille's second inspiration to be Rodin, and how her interactions with him and her sexual relationship with him inspired different pieces and emotions in her artwork. Although she wanted people to think that she was just an alcohol driven artist, her sculptures were ultimately created from her aggression and bitterness towards Rodin and how he would not leave his long time partner and mother of his child. Feelings of regret, sorrow, abandonment and loneliness are all present in the sculptures she created immediately after she left Rodin for good. The only way she knew to express her disappointment and anger towards Rodin and her failed love relationship was through sculpture.
One scene in the movie that portrays her love for mud to its fullest extent is when Camille attacks a large piece of clay. If a viewer closes his/her eyes, it sounds like a passionate love scene. In reality, Camille is just taking all of her aggression on this large piece of mud, because her art is the only thing that can calm her woes over life's troubles. This scene clearly shows the sexual nature of Camille's mud lust, feeding the stereotype of sexual and emotionally driven artists.
Camille's divine madness came from her love for mud, and from her bitter feelings towards Rodin, clearly showed in the movie. Not only would Camille go to extreme lengths to attain her mud, she would go out of her way to embarrass Rodin, and to show others how important she thought her work was to the artistic world. Her divine inspiration would later lead to her downfall as a strong, passionate woman, to a lonely, quiet, and rundown old woman in an asylum.