See/Hear: Solo BFA Exhibition

Artist Statement

People often consider visual art and music to be unrelated. Thinking about how music has influenced art often brings about thoughts of artists like Jackson Pollock and other expressionist and/or abstract painters because of the rhythmic motion shown in their brush strokes, splatters, and bold colors. Music’s connection to representational art is usually not evident, as these pieces can lack dynamic, musical gestures. In the process of creating art, artists such as myself use music to influence their work quite often, but this is not apparent in the final piece. In my artistic practice, I aspire to make a direct connection to my musical influences, because it is my intention to add new layers of meaning, create interesting atmospheres, and conjure specific moods.

When I am working on a painting or a sculpture, music directly informs the process, as it allows me to imagine concepts and ideas more easily. I continue to listen to other music while creating the piece, allowing myself to change aspects of it as I listen to new songs. As I work on my concepts, I often reflect upon art history and digital glitch effects, using them as inspiration for content, composition, and experimentation. Music is not the only influence to my work; relevant issues and other ideas inform my work as well. As a figurative artist, I particularly enjoy working with fictional people. They are often extensions of myself, parts of me that are sometimes frustrated, unhappy, or tired of certain aspects of life, society, or our world. My goal is to create work that relates to the human condition at large, being both personal and open to interpretation. Keeping my figures separate from myself is important to me as I believe these feelings don’t belong to me alone, but are shared by many people.