Date of Submission

Spring 2011

Academic Program

Studio Arts

Advisor

Medrie MacPhee

Abstract/Artist's Statement

We are often told to take pause and appreciate the little things in life. I would like to take that idea one step further and consider the appreciation of all things in the same way we might revere a small moment. I find myself in constant awe of the world that surrounds me and I am fascinated by the complexity of the space we live in. People move about the world, taking paths they set out on, following plans they have made. These paths change, sometimes merging, sometimes ending, as they intersect with the paths of others and as the world continues to move around us. This constant motion can blur our sensibilities and our desire for answers about the world can impede our ability to simply appreciate what we do know. Everything may not be beautiful or worthy of appreciation on its own, but everything functions in relation to everything else, and the constant motion, change, and the making of plans to follow instills a sense of assurance for the future and excites a feeling of awe for the present.

In my paintings I aimed to inspire a feeling similar to the awe I feel for the world. I worked to create a dynamic space that is complex like the world around us. Forms and spaces merge and transform at a fast pace, potentially a metaphor for how we move about and relate to the world. My focus was on building dependent relationships between forms and colors within that space. Each line, color, or form has its identity built on every other line, color, and form that it interacts with in the painting. I intended to maintain a certain degree of spatial ambiguity in each painting to encourage the viewer to acknowledge or identify these relationships before attempting to identify a nameable object. The people, places, and events I encounter and experience each day inspire the space and forms in my work, but they are not implicitly represented.

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