I don’t like writing artist statements. I’ve known for a while that I need to write one, I’ve talked about writing one, but I haven't. I guess I just don't know what to say. My paintings and sculptures carry my voice, communicating what I can’t articulate in words. Why do I also need to use words? But I’ve avoided it long enough and now Ill try to explain myself as an artist.
Growing up in Pittsburgh PA as the daughter of a professional artist, I was exposed to the world of art at an early age. I both loved and envied the beautiful work that surrounded me. I craved being able to create beautiful work of my own, that told my own story, and I was relentless. I spent my childhood squirreled away in my bedroom, paintbrush in hand, determined to tell the stories of my life through the canvas. Then, through this pursuit, I started to feel at home in art. I found that I communicate through art in ways that I couldn't otherwise. I’ve never been particularly extroverted in personality, but I’ve never been afraid to open myself to others through art. Through my work I’ve been vulnerable and my truest self, exploring both my own emotions and the universal experiences that bind us as humans.
I don't plan my pieces, I allow the piece to speak its own truth and flow organically. This is surreal and elusive, teetering on the divine. Sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes I scrub out the entire canvas or throw down my brush. But then, sometimes, it does work. And when it does, I think it really may be magic.
As my vision and understanding of myself has grown, so has my work. I have transitioned from the sometimes limiting two dimensional world into the third. This transition has quelled the frustration that I would so often feel when painting, fighting for the images to truly emerge from the canvas and breathe life. I love painting, I do, but it can be as intangible and spiteful as it is divine. The grasp and control over my artistic need to create was found in sculpture and the painted relief work that marries the two.
I don't know if this answered any questions, or if even I understand my art better now, but it's an artist statement. And I don't know what else to say, so we'll leave it at that.
Welcome to my site
-Tessa