PRBartist

psychological creativity spoken visually in many dimensions

Artist Statement

My work examines structure, transformation, and universal human emotions through intuitive non-linear expression. Using a journalistic approach, I capture thoughts in daily life and play the same words over and over to demonstrate the tendency to create our own chaotic experience – the tape recorder on repeat day and night. 

Central themes in my work contemplate social roles and expectations particularly as imparted through social media and family dynamics. Disordered relationship behaviors play a key role. But equally important is the influence to convey only joy and success. Admission of the grayer side of life, while socially unacceptable, is a vital aspect in human growth. It is through this admission that transformation takes place.

My work imparts as much experimentation as it does expression as the results focus on a central question as opposed to following a linear path in a singular media. That question posits, simply, by facing the truth of my own thoughts, can I rewire my own responses and positively transform my experience? While emotionally this method has resulted in my own interesting and at times painful revelations, my perception proves the answer is emphatically .. YES. 

Using my own life as the guinea pig, I have come to the conclusion that humans spew negative emotion as a weapon. Negative emotion, when absorbed, causes the health of the target to diminish. On an evolutionary level this could lead to death. On the flip side, humans have evolved to create social masks to block the negative emotion of others in self protection. However, that block creates a barrier where the negative emotion cannot escape. It is a vicious cycle. It is the the cause of our societal woes.

The study of spirituality guides to a ‘cure’. Eckard Tolle calls it the New Earth. The purpose is to live amongst the negative emotion and NOT absorb it, but do so without hiding behind a social mask. But such concepts are hard to grasp. Emotions live in a vastly different environment than logical thoughts. In my personal quest, I have come to the conclusion that negative emotions must be converted to logic – whether they are the feelings endured by others or generated from within. Once the feeling is ascertained in a linear form, it may be expressed through art. It is the meeting of the two minds .. the right brain and the left brain. Feel it.. write it.. accept it. express it. In the end, the bad experience takes a new form and represents proof that humans CAN cure themselves by a change in thought.

A STATEMENT ABOUT MY MEDIA

I love to work with building materials – 4×8 panels of plywood, grout, skim coat, roofing tar, etc. I solder copper electrical wire, melt recycled glass, and use all my resources to create something from nothing. I build my cradled art panels using a circular saw, miter saw, and air tools to complete my statement, in home, from start to finish. These items represent the tools necessary to create a structure – and to repair one that is damaged. A broken foundation, the inner scaffold, the safety of a proper rooftop. Solid structure can weather a category 5 hurricane. But one that is beaten with an axe behind closed doors suffers in a gust of wind. Although intimidating, messy, and even scary, facing the fear of the building tools offers me a sense of empowerment. The materials also represent the rocks that refuse to change – deny the inner landscape and accept that it may be remolded. It is never too late to self reflect. “I am who I am “ is the line I have been fed.. but “I” am someone who can strive to be better. “I” just choose not to. “I” think I am not obligated to change.