I am sorry to read that you consider your "used to be a good friend"'s words so sad and heartbreaking. I would ask myself: does my artwork need to make sense to anyone but me? Of course, it feels good to find others who share your feelings about a piece of artwork and sometimes it needs explanation for others to understand what is the sense oneself sees in it. But you can never have everybody happy, so I think in art it is necessary for oneself to be happy with one's work even if nobody else can find any sense in it. True, there are those who do something one wouldn't even call work and then they claim "you just don't understand it". This is so heavily subject to personal opinion that I just cannot tell how to separate "good" from "bad". Generally, I think that when there is more talk to it than work, then the art is in the talk, not in the object. Naturally, there are exceptions as well, as I do believe that "divine" inspiration happens.
You can never foresee all possible perceptions, reactions and interpretations of the audience and still less be prepared for them.
Very often, the only thing one can do is take things easy.