I wrote the following this afternoon as part of a little "leave behind" package for an art gallery. For so long now I've gotten used to the instant gratification the internet affords me. And sadly I've lost touch with the patient practice of going in person to introduce myself and talk about my work a little. It felt odd. Awkward even. I don't think of myself as being "bad" with people, but I'm self aware enough to know that I lack charisma. I'm the guy who would rather let my work speak for itself than try and impress you with my people skills. But I digress, the following statement is an evolution on how I think/feel about art and the why/how I approach making art. I thought it was worth sharing publicly. Or it could just be total shit. Either way I'm working on making things happen instead of sitting back and hoping things go my way.
Working in my home studio | Photo by: Justin Clemons
I’ll be honest. I’m not good at these things. This whole “selling myself” thing I mean.
The belief that art seeks not to answer our longing questions, but implores us to dig deeper for those things hidden in plain sight.
We lack understanding when we try to use our words. Our language is like a long walk off a short cliff. We will fall, and fail, everytime we attempt to sum up our lives and work with words. These things are best left to the experiences and actions our lives are made up of.
Using my hands to connect a piece of the unknown with the known world is really the only honest way I know how to do what I do. I’ve lived and died by the computer. At least felt like a piece of me was dying. That sounds dramatic. But coming through the other side I’ve found that there is nothing of substantial value that can’t be made more beautiful in the real world. Our little digital kingdoms we’ve all built motes around to protect ourselves and our identities will surely fail us. These too are long walks off short cliffs.
The world is a much bigger and better place to live in. This is the space I want to make work. The spaces within spaces within spaces. Where people walk and talk and sweat and breath and wear their feelings on their sleeve.