Artist Statement:
Throughout my life I have been an artist. From my youngest memories, my world has been a series of colors and patterns. I seemed to have always thought of life somewhat out of the box. Many times growing up I found my nonconformist nature to be a thorn in my side. Regardless of how much I wanted to “blend†with the world around me, I found that I could not help but see things differently. As an adult I learned to accept and cherish this aspect of my personality. It allows me to take chances in my life and to make works of contemporary art that are exciting, energetic, and thought provoking. Art is not just something I do, being an artist is my identity.
I recently started working with abstraction. The turning point for me in my work was when I was diagnosed with cancer during the summer of 2005. My entire way of thinking changed after the diagnosis. One thing that became apparent to me during this time is that there are no guarantees, no real way of knowing what will come next. It's a very humbling experience. I started working expressively and abstractly with my art. My work became very powerful and energetic, full of movement and color. Working this way is very exciting and freeing. It helped me to be very resilient through my treatment and helped me accept the element of the unknown (which can be quite terrifying). What is seen within the work is pure emotion, things that I have no words to describe. I still live with cancer. It may just stay where it is now...or grow. In the end, I will be OK. I'm not going to waste time in worry about what may happen. I live in the moment most of the time and do not allow myself to get caught up in, "What if?" Life just isn't that serious and "What if" may never happen. Worrying about it surely won't stop it from happening.
Here are some images of my work. It's best to see the work in person, it's much more powerful than in the photos. Photographs do not capture all the detail or the energy. I'm currently working on a few different projects in 2D and 3D. If you look at the photos and scratch your head, that's alright, you don't have to totally understand what is going on to enjoy the work, it's more about looking at something interesting and a little funky. Art, like music, means different things to different people. For me, for my work, I love seeing what others get from art.
PARADOX:
Paradox is my first conceptual sculpture. This piece is my first attempt at creating something that conveyed emotion in a non-literal manner. I grew a lot while making this sculpture. During the making of this piece I was diagnosed with cancer. What I learned from this diagnosis is that life is a mixture of good and bad at all times. Sometimes from the difficult and arduous times in life beauty and strength are found. Hence, the title Paradox. During difficult and trying times, where one puts focus is how one will fare through adverse times. For me, I focused on the beauty around me and the beauty in the fight. I kept positive and used the situation to propel me to a better state of mind. I also realized that there was no point in worry; worrying never prevented anything, it just sucked up my energy. In the end, I still had to fight. I left the worry behind. Paradox is not about my fight with cancer, it is about finding beauty within adversity.
(click on thumbnails to see larger image)
(detail of Paradox)
OBSESSIVE:
The meaning behind this piece is obsessing over a relationship-gone-bad. I started creating the work during a nine year relationship that was very dramatic and draining with a person who was very dishonest and dysfunctional. What I noticed while dealing with this relationship was how I could get so caught up in someone else's behavior, even when it was the last thing in the world that I wanted to do. I could be completely absorbed in other things going on in my life...and all of a sudden I would get a horrible thought or feeling about the other person. This one thought could dictate my mood for the rest of the day. There seemed to be nothing I could do about this obsessive thinking.As I worked my way out of the relationship, reality hit and I could see that there were a ton of things that I could do...it just took stepping away from the drama that someone else was drumming up. It also took the recognition that it didn't matter how much I obsessed, worried, got angry, cried; I could not stop someone else's behavior. I had to move on. Once I moved on...those thoughts that haunted me so often disappeared and I was able to have piece of mind.
US:
Us investigates our culture's obsession with the ideal “soul mate†and the reality that this is merely a fairytale that we are raised to believe. Our quest to find the ideal mate is plastered on reality TV shows almost nightly. Is it so surprising when these “made for TV†romances crumble and fade away? We all have our own colors within our personality and our own baggage. Even if one feels that the perfect mate is found, people are always in flux; that person will eventually grow and change, often times not fitting their mate's idealistic vision. This sculpture speaks of the twists, turns, and tangles of a real relationship and asks, “Isn't a relationship about accepting one for who he/she is and allowing one another to grow? Isn't it about accepting each others true colors and seeing if each has matching baggage, for we all have our own baggage to carry?†I do not believe that there is a bright, white, shinning light that casts down on a “soul mate.†I believe this quest for the ideal prevents lasting and meaningful relationships.
Woven within this sculpture are the words of Indiana Poet Theresa Jenkins. The viewer is encouraged to follow the lines of the poem as it weaves its way through the ride of a relationship and ponder the idea of what a REAL relationship actually entails.
