As an artist I focus on the process of art making. I paint because I love the physical experience of working with the medium as well as the challenge of creating a successful piece. I love to experiment with color and try to create work which evokes emotion from the viewer in a personal way. I like to tap into my subconscious self that so many of us hide away during our daily lives and then translate that into my work in hope that the viewers will be guided to have this same experience.
I work with the figure because I think it is something that is so easy to relate to. I try to find beauty in the figure in a way that is outside of the realm of standard beauty that we see in our culture today. If I were to have one goal through my artwork, or anything that I do for that matter, it would be to inspire others to open their eyes and question and wonder. I hope that my work stands in front of the viewer not to only show them something, but to challenge them to see differently. Most of my work does not have a narrow intention for the emotion or message that I wish to translate because a piece is more powerful when it is open to mean whatever that particular viewer sees in it.
I have worked with birds to create scenes that are somewhat narrative and convey very different emotions. I experiment, through the imagery, with feelings of calm, playfulness, and even terror. These pieces are less aggressive because of the birds because the viewer is an observer. They are more likely to observe the birds than empathize with them.
I am now working with the idea of human figures wrapped in fabric because there are many opportunities that this presents for me. The tension or looseness of the fabric affects my theme as well as how much of the figure is covered. Fabric also opens my color range options a little more so that I can be deliberate about the color palettes that I work with. The combination of fabric and the figure relates to me on a personal level because of my ideas about our culture and fashion and modesty as well as in the way it is used in the composition.
I am exploring this theme in order to learn about the way I work and the way that I think through the technical and conceptual elements of my art making. I keep my ideas and options open because I know that I still do not know “who I am” as an artist and I’m sure it will be a life long discovery.
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