Friday, April 19, 2013

Updated Artist Statement


Through the minds hat series, I aim to capture the essence of the diverse intelligences the hats represent: the creative mind, the synthesizing mind, and the respectful mind. The hats pay homage to those who have exemplified these qualities in unique and extraordinary ways. Often under-recognized in traditional schooling, these minds have not only made great strides for humanity throughout history, but are expected to be some of the most relevant and useful thinkers of the future. My wish is to expand the notion of intelligence and provoke the viewer to recognize the importance of diversity in thinking and education.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Art Capacities

Embrace stillness as a breeding ground for ideas.

I would say that this is where all of my ideas come from. There are certain things I find myself doing when I come up with some of my favorite ideas. I may not be physically sitting still, but these are times when my mind feels relatively still. When I'm not thinking about the million things on my to-do list, I often find myself inspired with new ideas while running and listening to music, on a long walk (these both have to be outside), doing a mundane task at work, or sitting in a class where I am not particularly engaged. I always carry my little sketchbook with me to jot down these ideas. The ideas coming from these periods of stillness throughout my life have made the stillness very valuable. Boredom with what you're doing fosters new, big ideas. And it has taught me to be thankful for this time. Even for a job or two that I particularly did not like, I am now incredibly thankful for. These times in my life taught me a lot. Sitting at work on a computer doing something that I had relatively no interest in, I found my mind wandering constantly to art projects and big ideas. It was at the end of that summer that I realized - I am an artist, and not meant to sit at a computer all day. I am very thankful for that experience.

Conceive of what is not

This is a capacity that I gather many different meanings from. This idea could be applied through use of materials, use of ideas, process, etc. I think that in some ways, I am conceiving of what is not. I love creating whimsical, imaginative, dream-like work. However, I am not usually conceiving big conceptual what is not ideas. I think that by spending more time thinking about what-is-not I could make my work much more meaningful and exciting! This capacity does not have to be applied to such a grand idea as what the sixth and seventh senses would be... but could be applied to ideas that would fall into my own style of artwork, like what would your house look like if you lived on the moon? I think that by asking myself such questions and doing creativity exercises, I would push my work a lot further and develop deeper, more engaging meaning.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Artist Statement

Through the minds hat series I have created, I aim to capture the essence of the intelligences which the hats represent: the creative mind, the synthesizing mind, and the respectful mind. The hats pay homage to those who have exemplified these qualities in unique and extraordinary ways. Often under-recognized in traditional schooling, these minds have not only made great strides for humanity throughout history, but are expected to be some of the most relevant and useful thinkers in the future. I wish to expand the notion of intelligence and provoke the viewer to recognize the importance of diversity in thinking and education.

Throughout the series, the common form is the hat, a metaphor for the ideas and discoveries growing from the creative, synthesizing, and respectful minds. The creative mind hat is built in the shape of a magician's hat, as creativity is an enchanting and mysterious process. The synthesizing mind ...(I will add something here after I create it)... The respectful mind (I will add something here after I create it)...My goal as an artist is to translate the importance of recognizing, utilizing, and growing all intelligences in the education realm and in life. I hope that my work expands the meaning of intelligence for the viewer.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Studio Thinking Project - 1

Below is my "creative mind hat."
Meant to be worn by those seeking and spreading inspiration.