Artist StatementMy intention was originally to represent corporate lobbying in the US, and why it’s an issue by means of a collage/art piece, though it took a bit of a turn into a different direction. I painted the US capitol with the intention of creating a collage of imagery depicting environmental destruction and corporate greed as a sky, attempting to represent the connections between climate change, corporate lobbying, PAC campaigns, and our elected officials. This would’ve related to my Op-Ed directly as it was about how corporations are able to, in a way, control many aspects within our government. As I was finishing up the painting, and moving into the collaging, I realized that the magazines I had available to me weren’t entirely cut out for my message. I tried to stick with my topic, though a lot of the imagery I was using was oriented into more of a natural direction – rather than saying, “corporations are causing climate change, and congress is backing it.” I ultimately was left with an unintended divide between color, humanity, and life, and bland, depressing colors, money, and greed.
|
I decided to go with the flow in this situation and what I ended up with was this kind of table, divided by beauty and environmental destruction, people, and corporate interests, life and money. Ultimately, I was really pleased with the unintended direction this piece took, because it in a way, came about through pure chance. Even though I felt that I had control over the art, in a way it came from something else, something more free, and that is how I want to see art. The art is free, not confined by barriers in the mind. The art flows in a beautiful dance of color and imagination, and my art is just that.
|