What do artists do? Artists notice things
(Grayson Perry)
I am deeply curious about the bridge between the internal person and the external world. Our reality is framed by our cultures, histories and archetypes. I am looking for the framework that directs our gaze. I want to know whether we choose the viewfinders that focus what we see.
If our attention is focused through a particular lens, what might happen if we could notice the lens itself?
I want to understand what makes the bridge between our inner content and our outer context. That bridge is where we communicate.
Artists must become able to speak clearly to themselves.
(Sandra Oh)
Our emotions are wordless until we apply form to them. Love, anger, desire, need; we feel first and then find ways to communicate. Words and music and sculpture: making art is giving form to wordlessness.
When we pay considerate attention to our reactions, we develop profound responses.
Noticing changes you. Art is the development of response.
I love stories of gods and mortals, of animals and trees, stories of seasons and life and death and after-death. These talk about our world and how we are shaped by it. They describe the origins of communication.
I love the stories that give form to our relationships within this vast world. I love those that give recognition to the complexity we are capable of.
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.
(Edgar Degas)
My current work is my response to ancient symbols of female rulership, the archetypes of female leadership. The origins of how we see women are 5000 years old or more. I am looking to bring forward through time the lost symbology of women, to remember how we first looked at ourselves.
The role of art in our lives is not yet determined, but it begins with owning our viewership. We can only see who we are by noticing how we are seen.