Brendan Murdock '86

ARTIST STATEMENT

I currently work with individuals who have somehow been impacted by trauma: mental, physical and circumstantial. Many of my students are affected by a diagnosis. This is not to say that they are at all defined by such. Aside from private clients, I facilitate transformation through the Mental Wellness Center in Santa Barbara. I participate adjunctly with the William James Association, an organization serving both the incarcerated and previously incarcerated.

A former professor of art, art history and graphic design, I am now more humbled by the talent I currently discover. I don’t consider them to be “outliers.” We have come a long way from the “art of the insane,’’ coined by Hans Prinzhorn. Still, given the current curatorial interest in untrained artists, though the student/client work I see is superior to any student I had as a professor, they are still undervalued in the community. I create a safe environment where emotions are explored, political work is frequent, humor is critical, spiritual work emerges and collaboration is galvanized. These artists work through mental challenges, issues of addiction and legal troubles.

Much of my own work is influenced by or in reaction to the artists I work with. It is also directly approached through an investigation of their work with sketches I am constantly doing during the time spent together. I bring ongoing work from my studio and encourage them to directly collaborate with me. It may just be a line they turn on my canvas or the contribution of a theme or character revisited. The work on the wall is in reaction to art I collect from a myriad of artists representing the most diverse demographic I have ever taught, along with my own concepts and funky style (considered the Mission School). The process is exciting, humbling and gratifying.