Francesca Woodman

            

             It was 31 years to the exact day of her death, January 19th, that I stumbled upon the massive collection of photography by Francesca Woodsman. How haunting was that anniversary for I've never seen such breathtaking work and for that moment, all was still. She eviscerates herself in each portrait as silver gelatin bleeds existence into her story. Silent tones cast shadows as the outsider is drawn in to her world, subdued through out space in time; the distance between her life and mine. It is pure emotion and her work can not be critiqued or foretold; it must be felt. Her spell has been cast over me and I am enslaved to every portrait for I've never seen such beauty in one's mind.

Everything I Love About Creating Art

               My love for being an artist is not in the objects, or the imagery I create, but within the process. Every piece has a journey, with a beginning, middle, and end. Unforced the work will be completed. I love art that is messy and hands-on; applying paint with my fingers, getting it on my clothes, and really digging into the process. Allowing thought to overtake me as I feel every wrinkle, curve, stroke, edge, surface, and even smelling the natural aromas throughout the creation process of the piece. All of this makes my work special to me and never easy to release into the world of another because such intimacy is shared within the creation process in which the work and myself have shared. However, with each new piece there is always learning involved. Every piece I create reveals something I didn't know or fully comprehend about myself. I need to learn to let go in order to grow as an artist and individual. That kind of internal growth is also what I love about creating and what I find to be the important part of the whole process of making art.
              
              An accomplished artist and friend of mine recently revealed to me that he was inspired by my work.  It was exciting to be recognized as an artist by someone else within the artist community because at this time I didn't really consider myself an artist. He shared with me some objects which were special to him because he believed I could create something amazing from them using my techniques and vision. These relationships that are built around art are riveting because even though these people may not relate to your work exactly, they understand the process and have their own excitement and love for creating. To be with other artists is so inspiring because their is a charge of creative energy within the simplest conversation.
              


ILA  Mixed Media on wood
KC  2012

             Artistic expression is always complete when the moment your vision finds a connection with a viewer. To have my work enthrall the eye and envoke thought in an outsider is when my piece has finished its journey. For them to look upon the work find a deep meaning in it for themselves and to love it as much as the I do is a rare connection. However, art is powerful in it's ability to link minds and through the interpretation there is strength and meaning to a deeper connection that separates the artist from the work as it is passed on to breath on it's own within the life and home of another.
          
              This is everything I love about creating art. The relation of the materials, the process, and how the mind achieves the artistic vision and the experience of inner growth. And of course the connections between people; art brings people together. It may be people apart of the artist community or those who simple love to view art and must always be surrounded by it's presence. It is a sharing of the minds, which is not always spoken aloud but in artist expression you do not necessarily need words, just someone to share the experience. I have discovered over time that a lot of my work has certainly been inspired by other artists, not just the work they've done but through a deeper meaning and understanding of who they were and how their lives were interpreted into their work. Their is so much to inspire art and each piece is so personal and always hard to part with when it's journey has reached it's end but knowing that my work is loved means everything to me and this is why I have to create and why I am a artist.

Evoking Emotion

Sometimes the artist vision may seem vile and perverse; it may be hard to look deeper into the meaning when the artist ultimate agenda is to make you look away. It is not rejection of the work but an idea. I love this feeling! Uncomfortable, disgusted, violated maybe even slightly filthy after; a piece powerful to evoke such emotions that haunt you through relapsing images burned into the crevices of a fragile mind. When they are before you there is no turning away; now you are the pervert because you stared just a little too long and hard. How do you understand what is beyond that sickening crust in the depths of this evil soul if you don't allow your self to look, to study and then visualize its brilliance.

Hans Bellmer's life size and all too obviously adolescent like ball joint dolls grip the viewer by the throat and force Bellmer's hatred for the fascism of the Nazi political party down their throats. German born Bellmer used his art to protest the evil ideals of the Nazi's perfect and superior being. Images of the dolls in bondage, obscure positions and simply staring into his lens are haunting portrayals of the unobtainable perfection that simply does not exist. His photographs are like a quest through the darkest and most sadistic of minds.

 Pain, despair, hatred or even disgust for a artists work may seem negative in theory but to have been enthrall into these emotions is what is truly is overwhelming. To be overcome by dark emotions and releasing them through artistic expression, only so that  it may be absorbed by another is beautiful, actually. That intensity that is conveyed in a piece and that deep emotional response is the beauty of art .