Nadia's Artist Statement

Hi Nadia,
I'm pasting a second copy of this statement with suggestions:
KEEP IN MIND THE TENSE OF VERBS.. i suggest you use the present tense!

Photography would have to be is my most preferred means of self-expression. Pictures allow me to better understand my existence and my reality.
I obtain a deeper understanding of the world around me by getting closer and paying careful attention to detail. I tend to look for the fragments of life that the average eye might not see. My aspiration is to capture the wonders of the earth and take them with me wherever I go.


While I love to take pictures which are completely candid, lately I have been interested in doing the am approaching my work completely opposite. I want to pursue this idea of creating scenes which question the human psyche. Philosophy and psychology have always had an impact on my life and from that has been reflected in my work.

I want to tap into people’s<>
conscious and unconscious minds. I want to examine emotion that is educed by a traumatic events or that which may come from being introduced to a newborn baby. Perhaps adding a theatrical element to my work is what I’m really looking for. (this is interesting but not appropriate for an artist statement---unless asked for, discuss your current work in your artist statement, for example, "In my work, I tap into my audienc'es conscious mind through using photographs that stage traumatic events" )


Photography would have to be my most preferred means of self-expression. Pictures allow me to better understand my existence and my reality. I obtain a deeper understanding of the world around me by getting closer and paying careful attention to detail. I tend to look for the fragments of life that the average eye might not see. My aspiration is to capture the wonders of the earth and take them with me wherever I go.

While I love to take pictures which are completely candid, lately I have been interested in doing the complete opposite. I want to pursue this idea of creating scenes which question the human psyche. Philosophy and psychology have always had an impact on my life and from that has been reflected in my work. I want to tap into people’s conscious and unconscious minds. I want to examine emotion that is educed by a traumatic events or that which may come from being introduced to a newborn baby. Perhaps adding a theatrical element to my work is what I’m really looking for.

James G's Artist Statement

To encompass all your being into one word may be a depressing thought, but it also may be a way to understand what I work towards as an artist. In a world of high energy McDonald yellows and bright Coca-Cola reds, I strive for a cooler afternoon blue and a smile on the viewer's face. With that in mind, my word would be "relaxed." For the past several years I have been mixing my personal sense of humor with a splattering of different electronic media and an ever-expanding knowledge of different software in order to challenge my viewer to not only think, but, in this age of high stress and mass-information, smile. With our culture's ever-expanding library images and entertainment, the line between art and entertainment is increasingly blurry. My work takes advantage of that diminishing divide and uses the different technologies allowed to our generation to not only put forward an amusing image, but an interesting idea.

Kerrin's Artist Statement

Anita- feedback
As an artist, I greatly enjoy investigating different types of media and how they may be used in tandem to express a concept or question. I agree with Michelle, add at least 2-3 sentences here that connects your broader level of invetigation and then dive into a specific project.... so what have been consistant or important questions in your works or perhaps its your 3-step method that is consistant? Can you find some connections??

My most recent work, ________ title, Most recently, this tendency explores or experiments has resulted in a combination of altered found objects, photography and digital manipulation. For example, in a work titled "God Whisperer," My process included or includes I had three different stages in my creative method of creation. (You may click on the image for a larger view.)




First, I paged through a copy of a bible that I had. I used the bible as source to At randomly select text, I would choose a short phrase and cut it out. Secondly, I then poured shallow pools of hot wax into glass candle holders, placing a cut-out phrase on each disk before it cooled. The candle holders were placed in the freezer so the wax could be easily removed without losing its shape or form.
Lastly, Afterwards, I photographed each disk individually, and then digitally composited into a gridused Photoshop to arrange them into a digital print (20"x20"). To achieve a finished product, I used various media: wax, biblical text, molds, a camera and computer software. This last sentence should either intorduce your process or be deleted.


The piece is intentionally vague (this is a problem and sounds like a cop-out - are you trying to say that it's based on chance???) but includes important words, stark imagery and context that are integral to interpreting it. (What does the materiality of the wax infer especially as it relates to text from the Bible?)
Vagueness WRONG WORD / rethink
is something that I typically like to present in my work so each viewer can come to an individualized conclusion about the piece. The entire time, I do have my own personal thoughts that are expressed- but that is also part of my own personal interpretation as a viewer.

Michelle Nugent's Artist Statement

Feedback from Anita:
detail
scale
media
The above are very clearly referenced and well written in your statement. The orange highlights below are areas where further elaboration needs to take place. I'm unclear as what you mean/reference as "personal keepsakes" ( I immediately assume small trinkets or forms and media referring to something old; antiquity, even. ). The statement in green is a suggestion towards being more concrete... how do you use color and line? How do they function in a series or multiple series of your works? The simulacrum comment is oddly placed--- vocalize is an akward descriptor here! Does scale vocalize? Does scale force comparision? Does scale
infer the body? Think more about this!


For me, the creation of art becomes an obsession that wills the need for it to be done anywhere at anytime. With this having been said, my current work consists of mixed media "paintings" using elements such as spray paint, Bic ball-point pens, even yesterday's left over coffee. Using these "at-hand" everyday household items, I am continually striving to create an intimate form of art where these non-typical mediums become a part of personal keepsakes. The focus on detail within this process of collage and painting has carried over to my other pieces in digital photography, installation, and fiber-art. Scale plays a very important role in my works help vocalize that address the simulacrum and interrelationship between nature and synthetics; color and line(?) the content of personal narrative and experiences, which also inform questions about memory & identity.
The manner with which I use color and line is crucial to the personal narrative interwoven in my works; then a sentence to follow up... using opaque colors in conjunction with flat form......
blah, blah....

For me, the creation of art becomes an obsession that wills the need for it to be done anywhere at anytime. With this having been said, my current work consists of mixed media "paintings" using elements such as spray paint, Bic ball-point pens, even yesterday's left over coffee. Using these "at-hand" everyday household items, I am continually striving to create an intimate form of art where these non-typical mediums become a part of personal keepsakes. The focus on detail within this process of collage and painting has carried over to my other pieces in digital photography, installation, and fiber-art. Scale plays a very important role in my works that address the simulacrum and interrelationship between nature and synthetics; color and line help vocalize the content of personal narrative and experiences, which also inform questions about memory & identity.

Can't See the Forest For the Trees, spray paint & ink on butcher paper, 2007 (3'x10')

Noko, mixed media collage, 2008, (6.5"x 5.5")

anna's artist statement

Anna,
Please note the edits below. The brown text is text to cut; the pinkish salmon text are questions for you to answer; the purple are additions to your statement!
____________________________________________________________________

To me, creative thinking (whether for artistic or practical purposes) DO WE NEED THIS PARENTHETICAL ??
when encourgaged, always brings great possibility to inform or transform. When I paint, it's more intuitive than technical., I'll usually have a basic idea of I use an intuitive approach to color and composition in my painting and just go from there. that further directs the work. I enjoy just that
' being in the moment' feeling of painting. Sometimes the process may take the work in a opposite manner in which I started, but my process never includes mapping out an end goal (or final imagery or something like that) you in a different direction then what you first intended. Water-soluble oils, watercolor, and to a lesser degree acrylic and pastel are the mediums I tend to gravitate to because they ______________ (allow fluidity? present challenges? allow you to solve problems in an organic way?)

My recent painting series
The tentative title/idea 'Sensing Some Treasure in Loss', is for a group of paintings showing focuses on different stages of recognition and discovery (after the an initial loss. , what is the journey, what is the gift from it). The idea is from a painting 'The Cocoon' I did that I'd like to expand on. It's one of the pieces I'll be bringing to class. The series is informed by previous work about With this painting, I wanted to express heightened awareness, a moment of 'knowing' somehow that you are being minded (? - I don't know what minded means) and guided in your life. ( By something other than self? By something outside oneself? By soemthing invisible? By Culture?)

It's also about the moment whenA 'veil' is lifted away, gaining greater clarity of a situation. Some of theAdditional work in this series will focus on stages ther 'stages' I'm thinking of are 'perserverance' and 'the return of courage'. etc. The other piece I'm bringing is a watercolor w/a poem. I'm still wondering if I should use both mediums for this theme or not.
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Ryan's Artist Statement

Ryan,
You have great beginnings to your statement. You describe an overall emphasis (see red text) and discuss use of materials as well as your process.
Below are my suggestions to consider for a stronger statement - the yellow text means lose it!
___________________________________________________________

Art, to me, is about obsession and passion. Through my work I try to show a great amount of attention to Details, whether it be through the mark making process or within early planning stages, is _____________. Losing myself in This sense of detail is what I feel allows the art to become part of my personal being as well as an expression. Recently, the path of life has steered my works__________ in the direction of book arts as well as printmaking, two fields I find infinitely interesting. Within these two fields I hope to use my sense of detail and my interest in the wide ranges of books to create work that is both unique and powerful. Recently I'm currently have been experimenting with the technique of lithograph prints and hand-drawn layers on book forms to create a sense of story that moves away from the traditional sense. Whether This play interaction can happen in the story copy decidedly printed on the cover and not within the book or in creating a very visually interpretive storyline. The work usually displays a graphic line quality to it, enhancing the dramatic nature and ideally reinforcing the messages of personal attachment. These works usually examine the ideas connected to personal events and the personally nostalgic idea of comic book related subject matter. Through pieces that explore this terrain and the many others of book arts and print making, My work becomes is somewhat ethereal in its delicate details as well as reflective somewhat on the ideas of or related to the celestial world and personal experience.

___________________________________________________________________

Art, to me, is about obsession and passion. Through my work I try to show a great amount of attention to detail whether it be through the mark making process or within early planning stages. Losing myself in this sense of detail is what I feel allows the art to become part of my personal being as well as an expression. Recently the path of life has steered my works in the direction of book arts as well as printmaking, two fields I find infinitely interesting. Within these two fields I hope to use my sense of detail and my interest in the wide ranges of books to create work that is both unique and powerful. Recently I have been experimenting with the technique of lithograph prints and hand-drawn layers on book forms to create a sense of story that moves away from the traditional sense. Whether this play happens in the story copy decidedly printed on the cover and not within the book or in creating a very visually interpretive storyline. The work usually displays a graphic line quality to it enhancing the dramatic nature and ideally reinforcing the messages of personal attachment. These works usually examine the ideas connected to personal events and the personally nostalgic idea of comic book related subject matter. Through pieces that explore this terrain and the many others of book arts and print making, my work becomes somewhat ethereal in its delicate details as well as reflects somewhat on the ideas of or related to the celestial world and personal experience.