Artist Statement

Throughout most of the semester my work from Introduction to Sculpture can be described by the title of the class; introduction. Majority of my pieces are apparent baby steps to learning new skills. In each piece up until my final work I believe it’s evident that I strive for cleanliness and completion. I enjoy using color schemes that do not go very far from earthy brown, red, and yellow tones, whenever it was possible. I feel as if they are inviting and I am most attracted to them. It was not up until the final project that my conceptual ideas were formed. I am interested in the perception that people feel the need to create to be accepted. Especially with the degree I am in, I feel that I am usually surrounded by this need to impress everyone around you. Because it’s the art world and there’s this stereotype that you need to be extraordinarily different, it’s almost taboo to be even slightly considered what is “normal.” For my project I used transparent-like materials to create masks. The point of a mask is to become or look as if you’re something else. However I made masks that are mostly transparent, symbolizing this faulty disguise that most people think that you can’t see through. I find it strange that almost everywhere you go you will find this desire. We’re brought up in a way that makes our image so important, whether it is through your attire, attitude, personality, etc. I find it unnecessary, yet I still find myself doing it as well sometimes, it’s human nature at this point.
Something I’ve learned about recently is the concept of incongruence in psychology, where your description/idea of your overall self does not match up with reality or your actions. This can lead to a very large amount of stress and anxiety. That being said, I find it very interesting that people go through the trouble of creating this persona that doesn’t match up with their true colors. I enjoy this problem because it’s almost humorous for what we work towards and I especially admire those that don’t fall into that strange temptation.