I Exist Therefore I Am
There are moments in my studio practice where I have to stop whatever I am working on and address a specific emotion or social situation in my work.
It is my belief that an artist does have a social responsibility and contract to society to use their medium to communicate relevant experiences.
Doing so they add their voice chorus seeking remedy and/or change. Or otherwise encapsulating that time to always remember seminal moments in our common experience.
I can only describe the sensation to pause an art-making practice to create relevant images as a burning desire to say something.
This need is driven from an emotion, personal or public observation that catches me. Where I feel compelled to exorcise this thought or emotion through my work.
As a result I group any artwork that falls into this category within the series title of "I Exist Therefore I Am".
These paintings sometimes serve as personal talismans to protect and guide me through tumultuous times. Where they seek protection from the Covid-19 pandemic, the horror of the "George Floyd" murder, or address the upheavals of the political climate in our time.
