Artist Statement (mid-term draft)

My art and my thesis focus on the illustration of the human psyche. As Webster’s defines it, the psyche is (in classical mythology), “a personification of the soul,” or in more modern terms, “the actuating cause of an individual life.”

I begin by creating highly detailed linoleum relief prints that resemble thought process. These “ruminations” are collections of designs that are drawn and carved in a rather free association-like way. They represent images or synapses of the subconscious mind. Printed on handmade, delicate Japanese washi paper helps emphasize their weightless and changing nature. The beeswax encaustic coating gives the prints a closer connection to thought process by giving them a translucent yet foggy quality.

Secondly, I work from these prints, as well as from scanned-in drawings and digital stylus drawings to create “intimate spaces”— highly detailed digital portraits. These portraits are originally taken from photographs which are then blocked out into simple colors. The drawings are added on top of the flat color to represent thought process and what might be going on ‘underneath’ the skin shell of a person’s psyche. Layers of texture and color are then added to complete the image and add depth to the overall composition. These “intimate spaces” are meant to invite the viewer to take a closer look at this human’s inner workings.

The prints and digital images are hung from the ceiling in an attempt to suspend them in a moment, just as a thought ‘floats’ or passes through our mind. This also allows light to flow through the prints and images, giving the work a living, glowing quality by allowing brightness to shine into lighter parts of the translucent material. This display method also creates a larger space for the viewer to see the piece and allows the subconscious representation to be seen in a variety of ways. Again, this emphasizes the complexity of the human psyche. My work as a whole is meant to encourage viewers to challenge their previous conceptions about the workings of the human mind.