Artist Statement June 2007

At the start of the year my work wasn’t really about anything. I wasn’t dealing with any issues, being political or trying to change the world or anything like that. And for me that was fine. But as I became more enthralled in the course I discovered (with my own eyes and ears) that art HAD to be one of two concepts, which were to be recognised as “Good” or “Modern”. I also found out that painting and drawing things of interest to you as a person, simply wasn’t enough for artists and critics of the art “world today”.

As I mentioned above in this day and age art HAS to have or be one of two concepts to be worthy of recognition.

1. The first (possible) concept a piece of work has to have: is an issue attached to it, such as war, abuse, global warming, governments, religion etc. Issues such as these are always received well.

2. The other (possible) concept is: creating an alternate reality within your own work, which may or may not have some political issues. But as long as it is justified as dealing with some sort of personal issue relating to the artist, it’s more likely to be received in the “art world”.

Obviously if I am to succeed in this very competitive and hostile art world, I am going to have to bow down to art “rules” and justify my work by incorporating some political issue or creating this alternate world, which has some personal significance to me.

I find this a hard thing to grasp. Everyone on this planet has some issues with something. Including myself, but I don’t feel they are interesting enough to be put in to my art work. And if I was going to delve into my past I don’t see how I would put these ideas into a piece of work.

At the moment I create things that are simply pretty, things that I think are aesthetically pleasing to my eyes, such as flowers, shiny materials and shoes etc. I also like to add textiles materials to my work to add a bit of femininity to my work.

If I’m going to be really and truly honest with myself, I don’t think I will succeed in the art world, because theirs certain things that your work has to be in order to be appreciated in its own right. I don’t want to have to give in to what I enjoy creating in order to be successful. I paint want I paint because it looks attractive; I don’t paint to change the world (not like paintings these days could do that anyway).