ARTIST STATEMENT !!

For my exhibition, I aim to convey a sense of weight. Weight is really important throughout my art and is a reference to body image issues and eating disorders. I wanted to portray these struggles through a focus on weight in different forms rather than through actual bodies themselves. I do hope that as a whole, my work doesn’t feel threatening or scary. I want it to look and feel connected and warm and flowing. I also am interested in the idea that while my pieces do have meaning, it is also worth it to just look at them from an aesthetic point of view. Superficiality is also something that I kind of wanted to convey, that superficially the art can have one meaning and also have a deeper meaning or subject.

I like to create more than one piece in a style. Stylistically, connection is really important to me. Not that all the colors are the same or that the subject matter is the same, but I am more focused on the lines. In every piece in my body of work, I wanted the lines I was using to feel flowing and bounce between very light and airy and very heavy and bulging. My use of unstretched canvas is also important. I think that unstretched canvas is so interesting and a successful choice made in my art in that it adds to the movement of lines as the canvas itself is not weighed down or stuck to pieces of wood. I also love the flatness of an unstretched canvas, that you can paint whatever you want on there and then if you turn it to the side, it is nothing, just a thin little line. In my exhibition, my body of work is focused on weight and superficiality and warmth. I wanted to try and convey weight in different ways and through different subjects. In my body of work, I like to create a pretty front that if you were to just change the color scheme, or pick apart the pieces, it would be scarier and darker. I like the idea that just because something is pretty and light, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have depth. I was so concerned with my own weight and how I looked and how much I ate and this experience has influenced my art. My body dysmorphia didn’t really allow me to see myself in an accurate way so in my art I like to show weight and movement in different ways. Instead of a full portrait of how I look, I created art that is seemingly flowing blobs and lines as it was helpful for me to imagine myself this way.

I organized my artwork in the way I saw my work connect. I chose to put bound in the center as it has a very different color palette compared to my other pieces. I like the idea of putting one of my more subtle and toned-down pieces in the center as it adds balance and really highlights the difference. I also put bound at the center because I wanted to highlight the idea of weight. bound is a large piece, but also one of my most plain and light pieces with a huge variation in lines. Ulary also stands out among my pieces partially because of the color choice and partially as it is the only piece on a stretched canvas which brings it out more from the wall. I chose to sandwich bound between She is and the trio of abstract paintings because I wanted the parallel between them and the thick flowing lines in bound. Donna, Astrid, and Edie are on top of each other because I wanted them to mirror the shape of She is. I would hang the pieces done on unstretched canvas from the top of the painting only so that they would hang more freely and are able to move a bit with a breeze or people passing by. I think this choice would highlight the movement I want to convey. I want my audience to feel intimate and free when looking at my pieces. I hope my audience feels a sense of warmth and comfort.