Our MFA Thesis Show, Brass Tacks, was a great success! I have completed my thesis defense, which also went well. I am sad to be done, mostly because now I have to work a full time job, haha! But...I am happy because I can move on to a new chapter in my life. I did get a job, however, it is not full time :-( It is a job and that is what matters! I hope to pick up a class or two to teach in the evenings as well. The future is unknown, so we shall see as it unfolds. Here is my artist statement for this installation:
I have little to no memory of my childhood. I can only
remember a handful of events. These memories are kept hidden somewhere in a
tiny corner of my brain and only come to me in bits and pieces. It’s like when
you wake up from a dream and only know part of the story line, the characters
and places, but not what they look like or any bit of detail. I don’t remember
birthdays, family vacations, friends, favorite outfits, teachers, my home, or
even my sister living with me. What I do remember is creating…
I have always made physical things and was somewhat of a
child inventor. My mom is an interior designer and my dad owns a body shop.
They have owned their own businesses and worked in the same shop together for
as long as I have lived. I had to go to the shop every day after school and
keep myself occupied. I would use my dad’s old parts, tools, and junk to build
things with. I would make elaborate strange tools and simple machines or modify
and build on to ready-made machines and tools. Most of the time, the things I
would make had no purpose. The process of building was more entertaining to me
than the end result. I would also use my mom’s old wallpaper books, carpet
samples, Formica samples, and any other materials I could find from her office
to create. I made touch and feel books with interior scenes; a room with a
saran wrap window, a floor with real carpet, wall paper for the walls, and I
clothed the people who inhabited my spaces with fabric. Having both parents in
creative fields lead to a creative life.
Hopefully that will help put my installation into context for those of you who are not familiar with my work and what it all means. I am not sure where I will go from here with my art because for the first time in my art career, I had a personal meaning and connection with my work. It is deep and personal. Of course, you can't always make work that is so deep and personal, unless your life is very dramatic and kind of messed up, lol. I guess a lot of artist's lives in the past have been, which makes for good work. I think I will just make things, as I always have, and hopefully a deeper meaning will surface in the process.
For now, I am excited to get all dressed up and pretty with my new work clothes and shoes and play professional. My new job starts tomorrow and I am ready to go!
