Creating artwork is a process that I find extremely satisfying. Art allows me to convey my ideas in a way that is incomparable to words or any other mode of communication; art gives me a chance to express rather than verbalize. I have always had much more confidence in saying things with imagery than with words, but artist M. C. Escher points out that "it is a fact that most people find it easier to arrive at an understanding of an image by the round-about method of letter symbols than by the direct route." So, in an effort to best describe it, I have decided that a fitting word to associate with my art is articulation. I can articulate my thoughts in a crisp and concise way. My marks are meticulous and detailed, creating a sort of visual rhythm with repetitive and transitional patterns and shapes. My imagery is meant to attract a viewer's attention with the energy of flowing lines and patterns. My work is not a statement or a way to convey a message. Rather, it is a kinetic combination of pattern, light, and movement that I hope will inspire intrigue and wonder. I mean for my art to be lighthearted, a simple and sort of absent-minded entertainment for the brain that does not insist upon heavy analysis. That is not to say that I do not want my art to be taken seriously, but that I want my imagery to be considered with the same cheerful mindset with which I create it.
The majority of my works are made up of geometrical shapes and patterns. In some pieces I use letters or words as imagery, but they are never arranged in a way that they could be read. The words overlap each other or letters scatter about the image, but they are never presented in a legible fashion. In the piece Electrified Script (pictured above), a line of cursive crosses two panes of glass. The script is recognizable as such, but is densely written over several times so that the words are illegible. The words are not important; the focus instead is on the shapes that they create. The jumbled letters could be considered a puzzle of sorts, to challenge the viewer to read the image, and to keep their eye moving around the page. The unreadable words are meant to inspire curiosity, and are a bit humorous in that the viewer tries to 'read' the image, but the words are not actually decipherable. |
