Artist Statement of Purpose

There are two sides to every coin. My whole life I have been playing a balancing act with the things that I love. I’ve never wanted to sacrifice one love of mine for another, but at times I’ve been told that this trait is a curse. From the mouths of teachers, mentors, and parents I have heard the word “specialize” like an ubiquitous mantra. Additionally, I have dealt with the duality of my personalities as an artist and a person. Expression with my more impassioned, turbulent and chaotic emotional side resulted in violent water colors of political dissidents and collages of a post-apocalyptic world. My meditative, contemplative and nature-loving side resulted in large paintings of trees—paintings, which have brought me a great inner peace through their creation. My whole life I have played this game, this balancing of my virtues and flaws. Recently, I have started a grand experiment of acceptance. Accepting that I am not one way or another but I am a multi-faceted person, and although some may see that as a weakness, embracing and accepting this as a part of who I am has empowered me. Over the last year I have gone through a huge transformation as an artist. I have changed the way that I think about art, especially my own art. I have learned how to paint every day no matter what because I am painting exactly what I want to paint. I am learning to be concerned with the process of making art, without judging the result or how it will be received. This way of thinking has allowed me to explore unknown territories in my work, places that I would have never allowed my self to go before for fear of tipping the scales. Over the next year I want to continue this experiment and see where it takes me under the guidance of my peers and instructors.