I showed some students this piece the other day and some saw a rabbit, it reminded others of sprouting leaves and still others said it reminded them of "balls"- always the balls. It was the testicle reference that bothered me the most, and my former self would have altered it so that people wouldn't see what my class said they saw.
I used to try to control what people would see in the art that I made. If they saw something that I disagreed with, I'd alter it. Then, after I changed it, they'd see something else that was out of my control. All of us comes to art with our own experiences and insights, so we're going to see what the artist may or may not have intended. This time, I kept this piece as is and posted it on Social Media, mentioning this idea about trying to control what people see.
Someone replied in the comments that when they show their work too soon, (WIP) folks often don't get it, and are critical. Then when they show it again after it's finished, the same person may come around and like it. When we show our work in progress, we need to accept that the viewer may not get what we're up to because we're not showing the entirety of our vision, so the feedback is coming from limited information.
When the piece is finished, the feedback may be the same, or critical in a different way, but you shouldn't care anyway. It's your vision and that's all that matters, besides, the naysayers aren't your audience.
