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Showmanship is defined as "performing in such a manner that will aid in conveying the performance's essential theme or message". Before I'm an artist, I'm an academic. In studying art history, I take in other artists' motives, their process, inspiration, and apply this to my own work. When I show my work, relating to the audience my influences from past artists is my way of teaching art history. For example, the painting shown here is an experiment in adopting the Neo-Confucionan worldview of Chinese scholar-painters of the 10th-12th century. This work is a preview for my upcoming show October 2019, "Northern Landscapes in Northern Song," my showcase for teaching a period of Chinese art known as Northern Song. In this month-long event I will be giving several lectures and workshops at 42 Maple Gallery in Bethlehem, NH. Two of skills I am most grateful for learning are how to draw and how to drive. I keep myself safe and sane by deploying either of these skills to remove myself from an environment toxic to my mental health. Drawing is the most readily available and more appropriate option of the two, as it lets me escape while staying present physically. I draw my way out of boredom at the 9-to-5, draw my way out of overwhelm of a messy room, draw my way out of loneliness or restless over-stimulation being out at a bar (not my first pick of places to meet up). I'm trained to draw from observation, to translate 3-dimensional space into orderly composition, a pleasing arrangement of forms, color harmonies and elegant lines. By looking out from where I don't want to be, and drawing what I loathe to look at, by my training I automatically transform what I see into a stable composition, a reassuring pattern of shapes and lines, an intricate beauty on paper. Within minutes I've formed a new relationship to my environment, and I love it. By driving away remove yourself from your surroundings Drawing your surroundings, you invent a place exists on a page, your page, and it's all your own. You turn your surroundings into a place that's no longer outside of you, but comes from within you. It's a superpower. It's my superpower. Make it yours, too. The drawing "Rental Shop at Cannon Mountain" began one day when the chairlifts were stopped on windhold. All dressed up, from helmet to boot, with no place to go, I bided my time with the good folks in the rental shop. They generously shared with me their China markers, and I set off drawing. GALLERY: Drawing my way out |
AboutThe Artist Statement is a living document. Here, I share the ideas driving a new body of work. Archives
May 2019
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