I am an Asshole

The first paragraph is my artist statement the second is my rational for wanting to become an Individualized Major. I win.

Artists have become advocates, pioneers, crusaders, defenders, and saviors. I am not an ‘artist’. Art has become everything. I do not make ‘art’. I am simply and selfishly my thoughts and my hands. I create for myself; to challenge my mind, my ability, my sanity, my body. I have no intention other than to make things for the sake of the instinctual process of combining. There is no reason or meaning, concepts are fleeting, and the end result just begins a new cycle of ‘what could have been’ or ‘what will be’. I read, I research, I observe, I discover, I experiment, I think, I play, I fuck up, I learn. I fashion allusions, wit, and intellect into conundrums. I recontextualize and juxtapose contradictions. I materialize irony and duality into ambiguous narratives. I create tension between the materials, the viewer and the piece, between connotations already associated with the objects used, and the precarious situations I place them in. I am an alchemist. But my reward is not the gold or immortality; it is the act of transforming.

I am here to learn and to challenge myself. I want to enjoy my work; to create for the sake of creating. I am here for me and these are my terms. I believe that to understand something, one has to go beyond the given and the norm. Therefore, to work within sculpture, I must transcend sculpture. I must branch out and learn all types of medium in order to become well rounded in the art of creating. There is one absolute truth that I know of my future: that I will not be satisfied with one set path of study. I want to study the art of combining mediums, methods, materials, thought processes, ideas. I want film, robotics, glass, plastic, metal, holography, chemistry, textiles, bookmaking, printmaking, photography, found objects, research, history, literature, nature, sound, smell, taste, touch, wisdom, sarcasm, intellect, humor, wit, duality, conundrums. I say ‘I want’ but it is a need; a need to create with my hands, a need to challenge my ability, a need to exercise my mind. My goal is ambitious: to create a major of an encyclopedic nature, but the standards I set for myself are high and I will not accept anything below the expectations I have for myself and my work. I have thrown down the gauntlet and I have accepted the challenge.