MESS: Artist Statement

My work leaves a space for people to fill. By turning my memories into spectacle,  I create a catalyst to address the discomfort people still have with femininity and other vulnerable topics. Using domestic objects as my material, I join found and fabricated in uncanny intimacies.

This work masquerades as a series of seemly misguided attempts to connect with people. All the while deliberately getting people to reflect on their pre-constructed internal biases. Like veneer my work, falsely conceals its deeper meanings with whimsy and humor. I bridge people together by creating a space that invites viewer interaction and opens dialogue about consent, and privacy. With the absence of a figure, the audience is propelled to participate.

Stuff to use and think about.

Discomfort

Ritual

anonymous collection

Habit

Playful

Lonely or empty

False

Tempting

Nexus

Connecting

Melancholy

Equality

Quite violence

Use of time?

Slapstick?

Voluntary vs involuntary

Use of the consumer

Sudo domestic space

I create comfort and discomfort

The need to be needed

Using humor and satire to deal/confront my own fragility

How can I connect with people as a woman --- without the use of my body as a sexual object

subtle grit

allowed feelings to cross borders

Addressing privilege

Art should be excisable to everyone

I want my work to be assessable

Wallpaper reminds me of growing up in a trailer house

What am I trying to say?

Why are somethings funny and somethings not?

Work that can and should be accusable to everyone, without people in fear of it.

By creating work that is familiar

My work studies intimacies,

class, and femininity

Masquerades

while also touching on topics such as class.

Maybe bring more text in to my art?

Artist Statement Mess

To me there are two fields of limitless exploration. One is the exploration of humanity and the human condition, of which artistic expression is a direct condensate. The other is the scientific exploration of the universe, which is done through systems that boil down to the fundamental science of physics and the language of mathematics. Both are equally beautiful explorations and have similar qualities, but for many they are irrevocably divergent. One sentiment holds that artistic pursuits are hopelessly impractical. The other is that science is devoid of aesthetics, spirituality, and emotion, and therefore fails to explain or address real human experiences. I believe much of the polarization today relates to the way in which today’s most contentious issues revolve around how we interact with various forms of technology. 

This polarizationtranscends political lines and is deeply seated in the way many people approach the world. It is unclear exactly when the demarcation between art and science shifted to its current status, for example, if we look back to the era of Leonardo Da Vinci art and science existed as complementary. Now this demarcation plays out in such a manner that both the scientific community and fine art world exist in highly specialized and inaccessible bubbles. This is detrimental to society because both of these pursuits capture the essence of human exploration and can be used to understand one and other. When the dissemination of these fundamental pursuits is done under the pretext that they are divergent, concepts becomes opaque and people are isolated. This isolation gives rise to people inventing more extreme, divisive ideas as a means of understanding the world around them. And the cycle perpetuates.

My body of work intends to use scientific concepts to explore and explain art, and artistic concepts to explore and explain science. My intention is to challenge societal understandings of what art and science are with the ultimate thesis that the line drawn between these fields is immeasurably blurred and permeable. Ideally, this argument will lead to greater accessibility to both fields of study. 

My recent piece revolves around the technology of birth control. Over the past seven years I have experienced second hand, though my partner, her experience of navigating almost every mainstream form of hormonal birth control. Each posing new side effects that eventually led to the discontinuation of use of said birth control. Throughout this process I consistently researched each different contraceptive so that I could play and informed and helpful role in her decision-making process. This led me to diving deeper into the history and societal implications of birth control. 

As this body of work looks into revolutionary technologies that humanity is still struggling to exist alongside, and to build bridges between these technologies and humanity, I believe birth control is a pivotal in this conversation. The discussion around birth control today often revolves around ideas of access. This work intends to address the strain access puts on progress while also attempting to push the dialog to draw attention to the negative and under researched side effects birth control places on the body. 

Artist Mess

After recoding information on paper, I opened a new document on my computer and whenever a new thought occurred to me over the next couple day I recorded it. Those thought are shown below. 

I cannot escape my reality when creating my art. I am locked into my own experiences, ideas and concepts. I am only able to represent the world as I envision it. Does is mean that my art is self-portrait? My art is a reflection, however distorted, of my reality.

Do I make art for me, or for others? And if making art is merely a reflection of myself is it narcissistic to expect other people to want to look at my reality.

How do I relate this to others? Should I even try to? I can only speak to my experiences.

The concepts and connotations that materials hold can be subverted, disguised, or brought to light through art.

I am very interested in the relationship that materiality and the environment have, and the interconnections between our social understandings of materials and the way we segregate and compartmentalize materials into resources. By extension the way people are classified as resources is something I am beginning to consider more and more.

Do I enjoy the process of making or the product? Is my practice about the work or the making?

How we present ourselves changes our engagement with the world. Environment and genetics altar the way we respond.

In a world were most art is seen through a digital lens, what are the most important qualities of your work to capture. Can my work be effectively understood through pictures, or video? What about my art is most lacking in those formats, and how can I effectively communicate that loss to viewers.

Does my explanation of my work actually make people understand it better? What pre-conceived notions/inside knowledge do my friends bring to the critique that I overlook. How does their understanding of my work change based on their relationship with me, and how does that impact my ability to assist in their understanding of my work.

Mess Artist Statement

Mess Artist Statement:
This brain-storming exercise has revealed to me the importance of investigating complexities and nuances in my exploration of the young female experience and in my use of paint. I am interested in collage / overlapping layers of paint to inform my exploration of both vulnerability and resilience. To fill holes in this "mess" and execute my intentions,  I will :1) develop complex compositions by creating elaborate surfaces and using drawing language 2) consider more deeply my relationship to the reality of occupying a young female body and failing to meet expectations / standards of beauty 3) imagine ways in which this reality could contrast or compare to an alternate experience of empowerment. Specifics are important to me and make my work stronger, so I will make sure to actively refer to inspiration from my travels / readings / interests: 1) collage on the sides of buildings I observed in Nicaragua and Costa Rica - competing for space and attention 2) sensuality as a unique feminine power used to undermine men (Greek sirens, nymphs, witches, femme fatale) 3) shrines & collections of objects to personify someone, even posthumously 4) primordial connection between women and earth 5) recurring patterns of birds 6) co-existence of multiple ecosystems in nature - relationship to co-existing realities (readings from "Black Elk Speaks" and experiences with Native American beliefs- crossing over into spirit world). 

Mess Artist Statement

In a world where media has a constant presence in our lives, we are continually reminded of our faults. Issues of pollution, war, poverty, inequality, climate change, and corruption seem to be brought up daily. Even when trying to tune things out, the conversation inevitably creeps back in.

The future seems overwhelmingly negative; there’s rarely uplifting news, and every time we tune in it feels like another tick on the doomsday clock. This barrage of negative information has us looking for those responsible, which makes it easy to point fingers and blame the world. Constantly looking outward brews a mindset where the burden of responsibility is outside oneself, and blames life’s suffering on others. Life is inherently tragic, the best we can do is confront it willingly. We need to tackle these issues on a smaller scale, within our own world; and change what we can as individuals before facing worldwide crises.

My work is focused on the issues that I have personally faced and observed, the things I’ve recognized and know I need to change about myself. If you set out to transform the world without setting your own house in order, your ideas could do more harm than good. It’s almost impossible to change the world, so the best thing to do is confront it voluntarily and allow experience to shape you into a more understanding person.

The aesthetic of my work highlights the potential consequences of not having an open approach to life. If you close yourself off and do not allow for change, the world will feel like an overwhelming place. Not recognizing your faults is self-destructive, and you’ll be stuck wondering if it was reality or yourself who brought you to this crisis. Similar to a post apocalyptic world, where you have to salvage from the remnants of a previous life in order to continue.

Mess Artist Statement

I have found myself trapped in a binary for my entire life. Day-to-day, even as a child,
I was told that the things I was doing were “wrong” because I am a boy. I cannot like makeup
because I am a boy. I cannot play with dolls because I am a boy. I cannot seek creative self-expression
because I am a boy, and all that stuff is for girls. All the things that I loved and enjoyed were for girls,
and as a boy I cannot like them even though they make me happy.

As a young boy, I was different. I knew that. I come from a family that is dominated by men,
and in that atmosphere I stick out like a sore thumb. In that environment I had no one but myself to
tell me that what makes me different is what makes me beautiful, and that is what my work focuses on.
It is inherently bold in its formal art qualities such as line quality and color, but deeper than that it is
bold in its content. Central on the drag community and queer lifestyle, my drawings radiate an
opulence that can only be found through self-love. The beauty of portraiture captures the
individual aesthetic and ego that every queer person can relate to as people who also live
in this dichotomous world. The figures that I draw contain not only beauty and radiate opulence,
but they also wear their pain on their sleeves. They are raw. They are beautiful. They are present.
They are tortured. They are worthy of being seen and heard.