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( If you are interested in contacting me, but do not have a myspace account, you are welcome to e-mail me at [email protected] )
( To veiw where I am showing currently or previously please look into my second blog on the list above )
Hello there. My name is Jesse and thanks for looking over my profile. I have recently reshaped this profile to have a focus on my arts and to help me network as an artist. So please don't be "thrown off" if this all seems too formal. If you would like to know a bit more about me as a person please look into the first blog on my list. However, if you would like to know a bit more about me as an artist I’ll explain down below.
It’s important to note that my artistic side has only been active for a short while, starting in October of 2006 to be exact. Previous to this I have always had an “artistic eye†but due to many stresses in life I never had the breathing room or calm to explore these interests. The closest I had come in the past was casually taking photos. All of this started to change near the beginning of 2006 when I went through a massive change in my life.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but I will explain that I went through a personal breakdown that resulted in me reevaluating my life. Through this process, I was finally able to break free from many things that were no longer relevant and that had been holding me back in countless ways. Eventually I reached a point were I had the calm and balance to try a new direction and I blindly leapt into exploring art.
Since this change in my life, I have been learning and teaching myself as an “organic artist†(also known as an Outsider Arist). I say organic in the sense that I have not taken any classes nor have I been trying to copy or mimic any one style or artificial/outside influence. I have been digging deep within myself and pursuing the ideas that not only inspire me, but also “feel right†to my head. This sense of things “feeling right†is very abstract and as a person with Aspergers’ syndrome it is also essential to how my brain works. Aspergers’ is a high functioning form of Autism that often leads to people seeming a bit eccentric and distant from others. Earlier in my life Autism wreaked havoc on me and how I experienced life. Over the last few years, however, I have come to understand its role in my life and I have actually embraced it for the many advantages it offers. Namely, I believe my autism is essential to how I view the world and art, it is essential to how my mind works, and it can offer a person such drive and focus that if harnessed it can be a very useful tool.
Currently, my interests in the arts have produced a healthy sized body of work, though not as much as I would hope for due to limits on time and recourses. I have displayed my work in 5 different events at this point and my work has been well received by nearly all viewers. I’m glad to mention that during my part in the 2007 Convergence convention art show, my work received the “best in show†award. Also, as part of the American iron “art of recycling†event, I also received an honorable mention for a sculpture/fountain. If you enjoy the art I have listed on my profile please get in contact with me. I always appreciate input and compliments, however what I really want to hear from people are more opinions that are critiquing. I like to know “Why†you like something and also why you may not like other things.
Inspirations and motivation:
There are many motivations for the work I do and I find myself inspired by different things all the time. There are, however, three main points that I’d like to share with you to help you understand the many reasons for my work.
First would be the way my mind works as a person with Autism. I think in a very visual manner and the many shapes, objects, and materials I use turn into nearly tangible concepts in my mind. Often I can see exactly how my work will turn out before I even start. Also, my mind naturally gravitates to structure and patterns, symmetry and balance, Design and geometric forms. When I’m at the beginning of a project all the parts and ideas shift around in my mind until everything “Feels just rightâ€. I often describe it as the teeth on a key that keeps shifting until it fits into the lock just right and everything “clicks†together.
Second would be my excitement for merging foreign elements and objects together to create something that would not normally be in conjunction. To do this I enjoy collecting found objects and recycling materials as often as I can. I’m motivated to make use of things people would normally discard or to find ways of using items that others would not think of. Also, I am driven to introduce new materials and styles into my art and be able to evolve my art with new mergers.
Third is my desire to expand the experience of art from “Just looking†to making people feel compelled to want to touch and feel the art. Textures, depth, and unusual materials all help to pull the viewer in and motivates them to explore or experience the art in ways beyond just there eyes. I also have goals of expanding the experience of art by merging function with art. Why should so many things in our daily lives be so one dimensional regarding there role in or life.
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