Artist Statement

I have a complicated relationship with commercialism.

 

I don’t reject it out of hand. Art is a form of communication meant to express ideas, and if an idea is worth expressing on a large scale, it needs to appeal to as many people as possible. For the artist, it’s gratifying to have a wide audience enjoy and appreciate their work (and, naturally, to be able to support themselves). The problem is that many ideas worth expressing on a large scale—the aspects of the human experience that are unlikeable and even ugly—aren’t particularly appealing or enjoyable, and the solution is typically to avoid them or sand them down, which doesn't actually solve the problem. And, whether I was asked to or not, that’s where I come in.

My life has been defined by uphill battles and strong stances and the constant tempering of nuance, and I think that’s reflected in what I gravitate toward artistically. I prefer silhouettes and sculpts that are clear and readable, yet made organic with edgewear and weathering. I draw from color palettes that are vibrant, but not lurid, and am interested in emboldening the color schemes that occur in landscapes and the natural world. I’m intentional about designing characters with diverse face shapes and body types, particularly female characters, but this also requires being intentional about avoiding stereotypes and caricatures. I make it a point, when analyzing or discussing a work of art, to examine those elements that are controversial or difficult to understand, and appreciate and praise moments of complication and conflict. In short, I like to dig into a mess, engage with what makes it interesting, and communicate it in an appealing way.

No work of art has been or will be able to perfectly express the ways that people hurt each other or themselves, or how endings aren’t always happy, in a way that every single person in its audience will understand or appreciate. But these ideas must be expressed. If people are to become invested in making the world better for each other, they have to be able to truly see each other, to gain greater empathy and understanding for the world as it is rather than what they might like it to be. It's a thankless job to attempt to find precisely the right balance between mass appeal and expressing an unpleasant truth. It will always be difficult to make the case for art to be a window rather than a mirror.

But hey—I like a challenge.