A work of art does not only express the inner feelings or emotions of the artist. That would be therapy, not art. No, a work of art presents an alternative way of seeing, hearing, or acting based on a glimpse of what transcends the artist and her immediate reality. It makes us uncomfortable because we can't easily assimilate it. If it were simply an expression of the familiar, we really wouldn't need it except as reminder or souvenir.
Art is the attempt to present truth, and to do so in aesthetically excellent fashion.
It is an expression not just of the artist's vision, but of what the artist sees, of what often escapes our notice because of our ideological ways of seeing. A society which wants its art to reinforce and soothe is a society that doesn't trust the infusion of grace which has the potential to make all things new. A fine example of the parable as ideological critique and metaphor of grace is the film, Babette's Feast , directed by Axel Gabriel and based on the short story by Isak Dinesen. The film is set in a bleak Danish village, probably in the 19 th century. Babette is a French cook who unexpectedly appeared at the door of the two sisters who have led this congregation following their father's death.