My view of art has expanded significantly, and unsurprisingly, since I first started being an artist. With my work, I've danced the dance between realism and abstract art, starting out with the preconceived notion that realism, for its more established provenance, had a stronger claim to my devotion. However, part of my maturing into an artist was making the realization that I draw more to express feelings than taking down the facts- letting the emotions overflow and take me to places that don't exist in this physical world. It's probably a reflection on how I think of things, in general- unnamed possibilities contain more facination than concrete details.
Short Version- A debate about what realism and expressionism means to me, and how I made the decision to designate myself as an expressionist.
My view of art has expanded significantly, and unsurprisingly, since I first started being an artist. With my work, I've danced the dance between realism and abstract art, starting out with the preconceived notion that realism, for its more established provenance, had a stronger claim to my devotion. However, part of my maturing into an artist was making the realization that I draw more to express feelings than taking down the facts- letting the emotions overflow and take me to places that don't exist in this physical world. It's probably a reflection on how I think of things, in general- unnamed possibilities contain more facination than concrete details.
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Short Version: Art imitates life, and the legal system promises justice for all. How can we as artists reconcile the fantasy of those words with the reality of creating within and living with unevenly applied laws?
In a sense, I am both dreading and anticipating the volley of art, books, and tee shirts this whole Ferguson ordeal is going to inspire, and the billions of dollars in commerce that it’s sure to produce for both individuals and corporations. Art imitates life, so it goes. On one hand, the politically passionate have a way to make their voices heard, and the creative their ideas spread. On the other, financial majorities can get even more ammo to forge stronger alliances with their respective local governments. There is a sense of dirty, flirtatious cynicism in the whole cycle that I’d rather not condone, but cannot deny the effectiveness of. The essential problem is one of survival and emotional honesty. How can we artists and makers advance the spiritual, visual and intellectual power of our creations while reacting against participating in a process that increases our dependence on a corrupt system? It's a hard balance for an artist to strike, but as artists Molly Crabapple and Damon Davis show, it can be done. For the past few months, I took some time off to discover how to write and express myself as an artist. I read a lot of philosophy, and understood almost none of it. I painted and drew, and liked almost all of it. But with writing... ah, that's another story. It's like painting a picture, with clumsily-shaped words, with the most unappealing of mechanical tools to work with. There's something about the keyboard, uniform across devices and places, that denotes a lack of actual soul.
This desire for soulful writing, whatever the hell that is, is an ongoing struggle for me to both take seriously and to actively work on cultivating. I now keep a daily journal of my thoughts and such, but I'm not at a point where I'd want to type any of that stuff down. I also am not sure if I wish to go the other route, and do a whole artistic manifesto every time I write the blog. For one thing, I do not wish this online space, such as it is, to be just about my thoughts and doings, but about my thoughts as applied to the world around me. In a lot of ways, I'm an isolated person, but I don't want to be one that draws from the environment around me without leaving something of equal or greater value in its place. I extract various resources from fans of my work- and besides producing work, talking about our modern times and how they affect all of us is a big way for me to I can give back. Anyway, welcome to fall and back to my blog. TL:DR- Vending is a rites-of-passage for most professional artists in Philly. What energies and exchanges result from the experience? Let's start with a number- 4. That's how many years I've been a pro (an adj. that implies a level of mastery and presumption). Art vending has to be both my least and favorite thing to do. I experience the open air and strong sunlight, and I see with my own eyes how a real-world art display stacks up to how I show it online. When I vend on First Friday (8/1/2014), I hope absorb something new from the energy around me and the people I meet. TL:DR- My mother served as both parents growing up, and also instilled in me the discipline to learn more about and practice art. Below are a series of portraits that illustrate her in all of her facets, and mirror some of the roles that she plays in my life. My Mom, Mavis Prince, is on both the left and right hand sides. For years, she has been pursuing her dream of providing ministry and uniting couples. She's getting her second master's, of Divinity, later this year. And below, you will see details on two more portraits of her- as drawings. The reason for the three different faces have a great deal to do with how I visually process, in general. They also reflect the rich art education that she gave me as a child. TL:DR- How are the increasing connections, digital and physical, being affected by the chance to extend life through technological means? How will visual art, which depends on the changing face of things around us, be affected? Today is a beautiful day. The sky is a flawless shade of blue, and birds chirp merrily outside of my window. I feel blessed, in my body, in my skin, with my place within the whole of humanity. Within the present day, however, I describe the future- a micro and macro expression that is yet to exist and yet happens with each breath that I take and forward step that I make. It has also influenced my art style a great deal, for its in-corporeality. The mental processing of the future can take on any shape that we- as humans- want, according to our perceptions, our desires. A utopia. A dystopia. Or any number of shades of existence between those two terms. However, I no longer think that these words, in their present sense, are as poignant as the term "transhumanism". This word mostly involves augmenting humanity's destiny with a secondary, non-organic system of support. According to your personal perceptions of technology, this can have various meanings, positive or otherwise. TL:DR- Working with Intuitive Expressions, E. Malaika Collier, and UArts-trained dancers, we created a mini-fantasy of cherry blossoms, movement and expression. Happy springtime, people. If I have one rule, it's usually that I don't paint flowers. To me, it's because they don't have enough kinetic energy- the thing that I love painting the most. Last Friday, however, I broke that rule, with really interesting results. I had help with it, too. Working together, Elpea Art, Intuitive Expressions, E. Malaika Collier and UArts dance trainees did a exhibit at the African American Museum of Philadelphia (AAMP)'s upscale charity gala last Friday the 28th. The preparation process was pretty intense from start to finish. TL:DR- The street art era is in full swing, powered more out of a love of art and free expression. How should we affix value to such art, though? Can something free be "stolen"? Let me start off with a theory- the things we really accomplish, that we want to be remembered for, are not ever for money or status. These are both transitory and a means to an end. I honesty feel that the desired end result is always borne out of love. I also feel- to not be too crass about it- blessed to be an artist. I can create,and display, images several times a day to the people who are lucky enough to know where to look ;). Still, is it justified when an graffiti artist, such as Olek of NYC, puts up a piece in the streets,and then complains when it is "stolen"? TL:DR- What's the point of drawing these creatures? Also, what could they have to do with anything that I care about as a person? First, I want to direct your attention to 3 pieces of wondrous art that I've done recently, on the left-hand side. I call these the "Weaver" series- the weaving of black and white from a 2-D plane, to create new types of people. In general, I don't connect physical space with what is imaginary. So, when I imagine, "living room", I think of a 2-D image. Static, final in it's purpose and general utility. But, when a physical space mostly takes place on a medium that we can't truly see or touch, how does our perception of it change then, whenever we think about it? For example, if Facebook was a real physical place, it would be an enormous skyscraper of thousands of levels. Or talking on a mobile phone- there is science to explain telecommunications and how it all works, but the sheer wonder of it working in the first place like that! Wow! TL:DR- Have you ever wanted to paint in public, with strangers, and have no sense of shame that's stopping you? Manic Machine Art Installation may be just the thing. Also, why am I doing this? Hi there. First off, thanks for reading this blog. Most likely, we've met in some art event in the past month, or on the street, or by pure chance. In this entry, I'll talk about what collaboration between artists can be and how it is crucial to helping the community as a whole grow and change for the better. Openness and working together are qualities that we need to promote more often within the Philly art community- too often, we hole ourselves up in our studios and only venture to interact with the outside world when we want to have somebody buy our stuff. To be honest, though, maybe I'm speaking for myself… still, I don't see artists teaming up on a project together too often. And it's a real shame. The artists that I worked with to start this are eternally in my heart, and I'm ready to share some of their names here: Kitakiya Dennis Steve Peters Wes Gilbert Feya Sterling Althea Taylor Some superfans also came out to support, including Manny Marzzallino, Yo Kene, and Ren Liam. Thanks again for your support. Now, onto the process itself... |
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