Artist's Statement

Recorded November 2001 in reference to Wendy's mixed media.

Each piece of art I create rarely ends the way or in the manner in which I began. I feel the beginning idea or thought is only that. It is what I began with to take me down the road toward my final creation. It's the pieces in the middle that make everything come together. When working on a piece, I tend to have personal battles. I put my heart into my ideas, and I put a piece of myself in everything I do. I tend to be in my work, but as each piece progresses, its unusual for the audience to actually see all that I intended. I find that I mask so many of the ideas I begin with. Something in me tends to hold me back from fully exposing the ideas that I want to share. This obstacle is what I am working toward overcoming. I am looking everyday to find an aesthetic balance between my work and the idea behind it. I feel like addressing my personal growths is really the best way for me to study human nature and its maturing and development. One can remember a certain aspect of their life, but they can never fully replicate their feelings, nor can they go back to the state they were in. Each experience in your life changes you, thus when you look back, you are in some new way formed. This doesn't mean each day is a life-altering experience. I just feel my art is my way of recording my feelings. When I look at my work, I see my diary for that day. I may have focused on the mundane events of the day, my personal trials from childhood, or my most current drama. Anything is possible. My focus is only to bring a piece of myself to each piece of work. The most interesting part about being an artist is that no matter how many pieces of art I ever produce, I will never bring each piece of myself together. Human beings are far too complex emotionally and individually. When I develop my work, I want to consider how others will be affected. Will they continue about their day as if they never saw anything? Will it dwell on them? I do not necessarily go for the profound. At one moment, I might, but other days, maybe I have impacted a person, and they may not even have realized it. What does it say about my work that it is not memorable? Are peoples' thoughts really that different? Reading another's diary may not stand out in my mind because what makes them different in their mind may be another trivialized entry in my mind. I feel art is the same way. I think art can stay with a person due to aesthetic appeal or a touched upon emotion. Any number of ways, but personally, I would like to develop my art toward that reaction and how do the mundane things in life affect people as well as myself. My diary may be interesting to others, but most importantly, it's mine. I am not out to change the world. I am out to mature myself.