Artist statement for my body of artwork

  My body of work has had a consistent theme of the human condition. My work as a whole has served as a study of this, and each completed piece has been a unique experience. I have always been fascinated with humans, the human experience, the commonalities we share in those experiences, and the unique emotion of empathy. Since I was young, I struggled with verbal communication and was also profoundly shy, so I spent most of my time observing others and gathering how they were feeling based on their words, facial expressions, and body language. I found myself empathizing with others, and incredibly fascinated with these uniquely human experiences that we all seem to share: love, sadness, longing, despair.

​      After being a passive observer for most of my life, I decided to use this as inspiration for my work. I thought I could use my observations to create artwork that others could view and empathize with as well. In my work, I wanted to represent those uniquely human emotions that I watched others have around me, recreate them, and allow the viewers to have a relatable empathic moment. I had/have no expectations that this is happening for anyone. However, when making these drawings/paintings/taking these photos my process has been this: I will talk with the person who has agreed to be the subject. I will ask them to describe a significant moment in their life to me (wonderful, terrible, funny) and I will begin to see that emotion unfold on their face/in their body language. From there, I attempt to capture that moment, in whatever way it is presented. Those moments are authentic and real for that person, and allow me to join them there.

      The work is for me. Creating those experiences that allow me to create a human connection and understand the human experience help me to better understand the world around me. This process started as a way to better communicate and better connect to others. After a while, the process became addictive. Learning about others, studying different aspects of humans as a whole and the way we find connections has been a truly profound journey. If anyone else viewing the work is able to find that kind of connection in it, find a relatable emotion, or understand their story, then that is all just a bonus to what I have done.

      Most of this work started as drawings as I was able to express myself most easily with those mediums. My BFA Thesis Exhibition, the apex of this theme, was done in charcoal pencil on toned paper. I have since extended into other media with this idea, including paint and digital photography. Each medium offers different perspectives to the theme of human condition and connection, and I plan to keep exploring this topic as my body of work grows.