Agitates to make artistic creations more lofty (5,2)

I believe the answer is:

works up

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'agitates to make artistic' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'creations more lofty' is the wordplay.
'creations' becomes 'works' (work is a kind of creation).
'more lofty' becomes 'up' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'works'+'up'='WORKS UP'

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