ARTIST STATEMENT
Stress has a way of building up and consuming us. Whether it be in school, work, or my social life, I am surrounded by obligations. It is through my work that I am able to leave these commitments behind and focus on expressing my emotions. The process of creating my work serves as a catharsis for me: the physical task of making multiples of a specific texture allows me to work through my worries in a creative way.
In my art, I tend to lean towards mediums that create interesting and unorthodox textures, most notably paper and plastic bags. I arrange them in a way that creates a three dimensional surface of different depths that engage the eye. I often use neutral or muted tones so that light and shadow provide the primary values in a piece. By ripping or crumpling things up and piecing them back together in an abstract, freeform way, I let go of my anxious need for organization and control and give in to the pure pleasure that comes from making art. I stumbled upon this idea during a previous project when I found that I vastly enjoyed the use of alternative media to create my work. I paired this discovery with a feeling with which I have become intimately familiar throughout my high school career: anxiety. The stress put on me by the impression that there is never enough time or energy to do all that I have to do serves as the perfect driving force for my art. I have always been filled with worry and stress about what direction I will go with my style, and it turns out that the perfect solution lies within the problem itself. |