CYCLES

FEATURING PERSONAL EMPIRE SERIES

COLLISION // $400 // 35.5 x 35.5 cm // oil on canvas

SEEKING DISCOVERY // $395 // 55 x 65 cm // oil on canvas

BREATHE // $495 // 61 x 66 cm // oil on canvas

ATTAINABLE BONES (ARCH) // $370 // 51 x 45 cm // oil on canvas (SOLD)

DESTRUCTING PAST IMPRISONMENTS // $350 // 41 x 41 cm // oil on canvas

FRAMEWORK // $400 // 35.5 x 61.5 cm // oil on canvas

DIVERSE VEINS (BLUEPRINT) // $550 // 46 x 46 cm // oil on canvas

TRANSPARENCY // $495 // 62.5 x 68 cm // oil on canvas


ARTIST STATEMENT // PERSONAL EMPIRE

In this exhibition called Personal Empire I have explored what it means to be human. I have pondered the definition of the church as a building and a people group. I have dived into the waters of the Ecclesia—the church of God. And as I rose from those waters I realized that just how much each stroke of the brush is different so is each human on this planet. Some strokes may look the same and they sure as heck might be the same color... but some don’t look the same and some aren’t the same; yet they all came together to form a painting. A painting then transformed into a series and that series into a statement—we are human and we have our own personal empire to attain for more reasons than just ourselves.

The contrast of structure and flow—how much of each do we need? Is it balance we’re after, or is it just plain and simple truth?

Is balance actually attainable for a human to achieve on their own? Can structure make up a human’s frame while flow runs through their veins? Isn’t that what bones are and blood is for?

Our skeleton is our personal frame, our built-in structure; our veins the passage ways for flow. What would the church look like if broken out from its walls? Why can’t life be what it is: diverse. As vast as the universe, so is the spirit inside us. Our bodies merely a frame of what they contain.

What are we called to regarding control and freedom; structure and flow? Don’t we need boundaries and guidelines to head in the ‘right’ direction? Then again, what is life without freedom? It is stiff and uncomfortable. Personal Empire is a search for the discovery of how to be both effective and fun, disciplined and enthused, structuredand groovy in flow.

The exploration I have taken with Personal Empire has helped me come to a realization that we are to “Live in the space of letting go” (a quote by Oprah, dare I quote her). It’s hard to surrender when you don’t know whom you are surrendering to. Personal Empire has reminded me that I surrender to God Almighty, our Creator, who knows the ins-and- outs of structure and flow—nature and Kingdom.

Push and Pull

In the Life Drawing studio, we have been focusing on capturing the "push and pull" of the body. Push and Pull has to do with the movement of the body as a round figure that both drifts into space (creating valleys or pits) and becomes prominent in space (being the forward or most vivid figure). Push and pull goes beyond just drawing the outlines of the body, but demands a closer look to show what it is the body does and how it interacts with space.
I have discovered that I love this practice of capturing the human form, because not only am I practicing effort in skill that I already have, but effort in the knowledge of what is really happening. It challenges me to go beyond what I know and experience what I see with truth and patient seeking. If I go too fast I will miss something; I have to clinch the process knowing speed isn't the point... destination is.

Leave It In Neutral

Today, cropping a still life painting and "leaving it in neutral" was the challenge proposed in the studio. I found joy in setting up a simple still life, and I found it to be hard work to stay in neutral (primary color mixed with secondary) throughout an entire painting. I love the colors formed out of the mixtures — the heaps of different colors and pigments, tones and temperatures you can get out of three simple colors (red, blue, yellow with the help of white and black) just amazes me. There were moments I wanted to stay true to the sight in front of me, but it was adventurous and exciting to step out of my comfort zone and be pulled into a new way of seeing. 

Know, See, Feel

Still Life painting is rather interesting. Complimentary to Still Life Drawing... only colorfully strategic in the placement of brush strokes. In the four hours I was fully immersed into this artwork, I learned something about the order of things. Knowing; Insight into something is known as Knowledge, Educating, or Understanding, which then leads to having the ability to See. When you know what something is doing—how objects are interacting—you then have a heightened sense of Sight. When you see more clearly, you begin to Feel the Impact of it on a real level and can therefore Express it. I couldn't properly display the way these fruit interacted with each other and the cloth they sat on without fixing my attention on them and learning what it was they were doing with my eyes. Leaning into a vision wholeheartedly and thoughtfully helped me experience the shifting of colors the light gave off the fruit and onto the cloth while also allowing me to interact with the way they moved throughout my canvas.

Feeling It Out

Painting has always been a desire of mine. The thought of having paint all over my hands and getting brushes and surfaces messy has always brought delight to me. Drawing has been my dominant practice as an artist, so when I paint, "feeling it out" is quite a beautiful process. I've been told painting and drawing are completely different, but I reckon you need to know one in order to know the other. When I say know, I mean understand. Art, for me, is an exploration into a subject. I want my understanding... my findings... to speak for the artwork, through the artwork. Today, I grew in my understanding of colorfully portraying a white still life.

Spontaneous Strategy

The most recent color theory exploration led to a portrait painting by Matisse of his wife with a green stripe down the middle of her face. Before diving into creating my own version of his painting, I got to admire the strokes he took to create her and even more-so the beautiful, thought out color theory he presented. When I got to dive in to the actual painting process, I found I was even more mesmorized than before when I was actually mixing the colors myself and applying them. "Spontaneous strategy"is how I would define this painting's theory of color.

Life Drawing

Term 2 at C3 College has brought to surface a desire to draw the human figure that has been brewing inside of me for quite some time now. I have been challenged to draw what I see, not just what I know. So far, this challenge has helped me appreciate the ways that our skin drapes perfectly over our muscles while still revealing the depth of where our bones lie. I have seen the uniqueness and gotten a glimpse at the many different, intricate ways in which people are made and I only yearn to study further in the beauty of things, or in this case people, that we have for so long seen as just ordinary. Humans are not ordinary, each one of us is extraordinarily made and I want to continue to capture that in my drawings.