Artist's Statement
Simply put, this past year was a “survival year” surrounded by the unexpected and the uncertain. This series of artworks encompass the start of my journey to mentally process the past year of living and working during the pandemic. Each artwork draws upon experiences and emotions in my life throughout 2020 and 2021. During and even long after these experiences, I felt my brain struggling, filled to capacity, trying to work through everything. In cognitive functioning, our brain works diligently to process the world around us through acquisition of knowledge, manipulation of information, and reasoning. The brain goes into a Survival State, often referred to as the “primal brain;” urgently seeking safety, comfort, or sanctuary from overwhelming fear and frustration. Another brain mode experienced is the Emotional State; responding to upset and craving connection. Lastly, and most confusing with the “new normal” of the time, people were expected to continue to operate in the Executive State of the brain; to manage, to learn, to self-regulate, and perform at a high level of functioning at jobs and at home. A tall order to fill.
Themes that arise in this series include survival, comfort, protection, and betrayal. My hope is that the viewer can relate to the figure, the animal, or both, as I have on many occasions. The surrealistic relationship between the subjects is important and the connection of the artistic elements is often unexpected. I enjoyed exploring the juxtaposition of materials, textures, and colors. In the past, I have worked separately with digital and traditional media, but have never married the two into one artwork as I have with this series. Layers of oil pastel and acrylic paint allowed for scratchboard techniques and detailed textures. Digital platforms promoted my ability to alter the image beyond canvas constraints. My process was to plan digitally, draw, paint and create traditionally on canvas, and then go back in and manipulate a digital photograph of the art using Adobe Photoshop. The three prints displayed are the results of hours of the back and forth between the two methods.
