Motivation / Goals
Identifying a challenge
For me, making a new artwork begins with a question I don’t immediately know the answer to. It ends with the artwork as the proof that the answer I came up with is true. The middle part, figuring it out, is often more time consuming than shaping the actual piece, although it is the part I enjoy the most.
Creating complexity through logically reduced components
The most direct example of this is stippling, in which an image is produced using only dots. Starting with a subject and minimizing elements while maintaining the original idea is always one of my goals.
Maximizing originality
When I have an idea for a piece, I try to research whether or not something like it has been done before. If the challenge I’ve identified seems like it might have already been addressed, I will wait until I have fully realized it before researching its originality, since the fun part is figuring it out.
Graphic Design as Fine Art
After studying graphic design and working in this field for several years, my desire to take the principles of design and apply them to media other than paper or the screen has steadily increased.
Fully realized artwork
A work of art has been fully realized when an artist actively participates in the actions of creating, shaping, and framing. When only one or two of these actions have been done, this only means that the artwork is not as fully realized as it could be. The explanation of these components is intended to be general enough to work with any art form.
I try and make an effort to think about these aspects as much as I can during the art making process.
CREATING
Creating is the idea behind the piece. Purely, there is no physical component, although realistically there might be a medium required to transmit the idea, such as a recipe or musical score.
When time allows, I use the Osborn Parnes method of Creative Problem Solving to come up with the best solution. This helps to narrow down ideas and gives me a bunch of leftovers for later use.
SHAPING
Shaping is the rearrangement of raw materials to produce organization. A piece of charcoal is a burnt stick becomes a drawing – the same material reorganized.
I try to choose the medium and techniques used for each piece relevant to the idea.
FRAMING
The spatial and temporal boundaries which contain the work establish a frame for an artwork’s beginning and ending – where the art is and where the rest of the world is. This might be the edge of the stage or the resting of a conductor’s baton.
Artwork placement in a space is a form of framing, as the architecture or surroundings themselves might be boundaries.
(I like to make my own actual frames as well.)
Inspirations / Influences
Two of the most inspiring artists to me are Donald Judd and M.C. Escher. It would be a stretch to draw parallels between the work of these two, but one thing they do have in common is the effect they have on me. There is something that “rings true” when I look at their work, as if the work answers a question I didn’t realize I had. The work of both artists provides an endless supply of layers and relationships so that viewing never gets old.