art statement

I am an artist because anyone who wants to be an artist can be an artist. I don’t believe I’m better or worse than anyone at being creative and expressing myself through artwork, but I do believe in myself as a creative mind. The art I make doesn’t necessarily always have a deeper meaning than the fact that I think it’s cool, and I think sometimes art is just there to entertain the eye and nothing more. When my art does have a deeper meaning, I don’t care whether or not whoever views it knows what that meaning is, because they may interpret it however they please. Just so long as I enjoy my own artwork, I am satisfied with whatever I’ve done.

a statement

For all the wrong reasons:

I am an artist because I am unstable. Mediating my emotions thru a piece of paper moves me. Repeating the most basic take for countless times for the perfect shot calms me down. Then I take my blade and slash vigorously through footage, adding different layers of meaning to what was there before (and maybe killing some). And I sit down to watch my work … and I hate it. I hate it so much; I cannot describe with words. So, I make another one.

I am an artist because I am addicted. Countless thoughts enter my brain while watching a movie. I cry sometimes, not because the story is sad, but the movie is so damn good. I think of all of the hardships the filmmakers may have encountered, so I forgive some faults. I watch all of the movies in their own contexts so I can appreciate every single one of them, even though, and sometimes, they are really, really bad.

I am an artist because I am not dependable. I refuse to find a job that I am good at, that pays me to do something, anything, in a steady fashion. I refuse to wake up at 8 am everyday, which deems me as a bad provider in today’s society. In my opinion, sitting down on my ass to watch a bad teen comedy counts as work, and I firmly believe one day people will pay me for it.

I am an artist even though I am not talented. I use three letter words like “bad” and “get” in my papers, and I cheat by utilizing the right mouse key, so it can find me synonyms. So, in order to fully express my feelings I have to make art. Oh, and one more thing, I never prrof read.

I am an artist because I am desperate. I have many good stories to tell, but not enough friends to tell to. Since I can’t pay people to listen to what I have to say, I decided to take their money instead. Maybe then they will stop asking me questions like “why film studies?” For the record, I always answer “a muse kissed me on my lips.” I am an artist not necessarily in order to break free from the clichés or the stereotypes; I sometimes like to exploit them instead.

I am an artist ... and this is my confession.

a statement

I am an artist because I have to be. Without art I would be bored stiff, and my mind would turn to mush. I like to laugh and laughing makes me feel good. I want to create art that makes others feel good. I may be an amateur with the video camera, but laughter is easily measured and makes people happy.

a statement

My desire to create art stems from my relationship with art. Art is my ontology, a metaphysics that bridges logic and analysis to emotion and spirituality. In this respect I view myself as a theorist. I am searching for some sort of unified theory to describe the way everything is. My art becomes discussions or experiments on this search. I find great enjoyment in my work, and am comforted by the knowledge that I will never find a unified theory. As art critic Waldemar Januszczak said of Anselm Kiefer’s paintings, I feel like I am on an endless and “marvelously addictive game of Nontrivial Pursuit.” Luckily this is a game without rules, where you can win as many pie pieces as you set your mind to.

A Statement

My work shows that mundane situations and objects can be taken out of their original context and reflected upon in a different way than what was originally experienced. I like to take video of ordinary situations and then edit in a way that allows the viewer to reflect upon the potential meanings that may have been missed during the original experience. I use my art as a way to glean new outlooks and a broader understanding of life and relationships through fragments of life captured on video.

A Statement

m an artist because I have to think, see, do, sense, feel. Making and experiencing art erases the Cartesian mind-body split because it requires me to engage myself holistically -- mind-body-spirit. Instead of accepting the status quo, being in the work-eat-sleep routine, I get to enjoy what I do and do something bigger than myself, connect with other people, do the unexpected. "Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" (Mary Oliver)

A Statement

Everything I make is in the interest of telling a story. Even if I don't really know what exactly the story is, everything becomes just that much more interesting if you feel that there's something deeper to it. Who is that guy? Why is he standing there? What's he thinking about? And if the viewer of the artwork is able to feel that there is a story just by looking, that much the better. Even if what I'm thinking about is completely different than what they are thinking about. In fact, I like it better when the viewer is able to come up with their own story, because theirs is probably more interesting and/or meaningful to them than anything I tell them, because they can bring their own memories and experiences to the work, whereas I can only bring in my own. If thirty different people view my work and come up with thirty different stories, then I feel like I've accomplished something significant.

A Statement

I would like to answer the following question once and for all: "Am I an artist?" I can do artistic things: I can visualize what I want a piece of art I'm making to look like and/or sound like, and then follow that vision to its end...but is that truly art? Or is it merely attempts at art by someone who may lack true artistic vision, and tries to compensate with intellect...even though it takes more than intellect to create "true" art?

A Statement

I’m primarily a prose writer. I traffic in both fiction and creative nonfiction, although I consider the line between the two genres blurry (at the very least). My main artistic goal is to entertain as many people as I can. If, in the process of trying to create an entertaining piece of art, I manage to say something fresh about what it is to be human (or I manage to say something that’s been said before, but in a fresh way), all the better. But I believe that art that fails to engage its audience at first glance or upon first read will lose a large percentage of that audience right off the bat. I strive to create accessible art—art that falls into the realm of popular culture.

A Statement

#1: As a musician a music educator, I have always hoped that my students
will see my passion and love of music every day in class. By demanding
artistic excellence, I hope my students develop an appreciation of music as
an art form and become more discerning listeners as they become adults.

#2: I am an artist. I have a NEED to create. The creative process is as
important to me as air is to breathing. It is almost an obsession. Should
an inspiration hit me, I must fulfill or complete the project until it is
done - almost at the exclusion of everything else. This is not something I
choose. I HAVE to complete it. Only another artist can understand this
desire. Non-artists just don't get it.

A Statement

I am a young video artist whose work emphasizes the multiplicity of the psyche as individuals voluntarily put arbitrary pressure and stress on themselves. My hope is to initiate discussion on social standards and how different individuals interpret them. I am interested in showing the contrast between inward feelings and outward expressions.

Through my art, I hope to present ambiguously relatable situations to an audience and have them examine those situations in a way that makes them question the importance of what otherwise would be considered common behavior.
Ideally, the audience’s experience, whether enjoyed or despised, will not be fleeting, but rather an experience that lingers long enough to at least strike up a conversation about the human condition.

A Statement

Like many others, I cannot describe what my art means. I know I enjoy constantly being creative and turning everyday events into a different story in my head. I’ve always found it difficult to analyze what someone else’s artwork it trying to portray, but when it boils down to it, that remains the best part. Whether it is big or small, abstract or plain as day, everyone will generally take something different from it. I want my art, like all art, to mean something different to every individual. I make art because it is the best way to express myself and keep my brain in a constant state of creativity.

a statement

I am a new media artist whose work primarily focuses on how societies are using animals as means to fulfill human desire. My work primarily focuses on how we can solve the problems that exist in human and animal relationships. By implementing possible technological solutions such as potential prosthetics and alternative farming systems, I hope to allure the viewer to investigate ways to achieve a harmonious coexistence of animals and humans.

a statement

Generally speaking, if people ask me why I make art, I can usually come up with some sort of evasive smartass non-answer such as, "Because I didn't make the cut for America's Next Top Model." The truth is evident in such a response, because I don't really know, but I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that I don't know how to handle myself in a world of absurdity, and art is good therapy.

I don't really like to use the word art as I'm still not quite sure what it means. I know that it means being creative, and I like to create things. I know that it has something to do with reaching out for some kind of transcendence and perhaps permanence. I know that it means seeking out some kind of truth. I think it is a way to make sense of an overwhelming, stupid world.

I have struggled with this question for most of my life. There has always been a nagging doubt that while there is suffering in the world, perhaps it is incredibly selfish and indulgent to spend my time creating things that don't help alleviate suffering. I still have not answered the question for myself, but I like to think that before I am done, I will find a way to create things that mean something to someone. While it might not be equivalent to the work of a Red Cross volunteer or a public defense lawyer, I hope that my creative efforts in some way leave the world a better place than I found it.


JR Gualtieri

a statement

I am an artist because everybody is an artist. I don’t suppose I have anything extra special to say, but I do think it is important that I say it anyway. Life would be dull without art. So would people. I am constantly reflecting on things that go on in life, and I think art gives us the platform to share those thoughts in as thorough and interesting a manner as we can conceive. I like to keep trying to present my ideas and the results of rambly contemplation in clear ways, multi-layered ways.

a statement

I would like my artwork to be seen and appreciated. Ideally I would like people to feel something positive from what they’re seeing. Even if there are negative feelings that occur in the viewer, as long as they are passionate feelings, that is alright too. I would like the feelings to be, whether positive or negative, so great that they want to discuss what they’ve seen.

I create art because I am a visual person who suffers from social anxiety. I am not social with the public, so I use art as a means to communicate and entertain. Also, when I was in kindergarten I did not want to waste time with picking my future career and decided I would become a cartoonist. Over the years my career goals have changed from being a cartoonist to a special effects make-up artist, screenwriter, costume and stage designer, editor to an animator again. Even though my career goals have changed frequently, one thing has remained. I have always wanted to be involved in the entertainment industry. I am a quiet entertainer.

a statement

My positionality as a visual culture art educator has deeply affected my beliefs as a practicing artist. Previously, when viewing myself as only a studio artist, I had ideations of art as realism, expressionism, and perfectionism. I saw my work as speaking to me as artist first, and to the audience second. The process was a personal therapy, but the product still needed to look good enough to be categorized in the Western notion of “art”.

Now, as an art educator/artist, I view art and its production very differently. Currently I view art and art making as a means of conveying a message; a message that needs to be critically analyzed and/or deconstructed in order to find its [and therefore- my] underlying assumptions about society and the world. I am now more skeptical, critical, and deliberate in the works I produce; however, I am also less concerned with the aesthetics of the finished product. I see my art as windows into the ontological being that I am and would also like to become. If stereotypes emerge within my artworks, I want to problem solve ways of overcoming and alleviating them- both in the works and in my personal life. And as an educator, I want to assist my students in having similar experiences with their individual and collective art pieces while at the same time guiding them to become more socially conscious citizens. In short, I now see art as more of a dialogic practice than as a studio practice [warranting discussion and analysis of ideas, not critique of technique].

Ross' Statement

When I make something, I'm always intent on the experience it will deliver. To me the reactions and emotions that come out of a happening are fundamentally crucial to the entire process and development of an idea. These reactions not only evaluate the work(or concept) they also give an opportunity to learn and experience something new and exciting. These are the principles behind a quote by John Lathram III: "If it doesn't piss you off or make you feel anything, it's not art". To this day I constantly reflect on these words as a guide to my own work.

Norman's Statement

Blue. Red. Green. Three colors we are all familiar with. Not only are we familiar with them but also we are familiar with what they may represent:
Blue – The sky, the sea, sadness, coldness.
Red – Fire, blood, warmth, passion.
Green – Nature, money, envy, hope.
Instead of these meaning these colors were primarily the symbols of the three political parties back home in Puerto Rico. For me this combination of the colors simply represented politics. What I find fascinating about this is that as our experiences determine how we interpret objects their meaning is transformed depending on who is observing.
My art then is an attempt to understanding situations with multiple meaning behind an object, image or idea. One of my artworks that dealt with this was the video Path to Enlightenment. I was inspired to work on this piece when I started to learn about Buddhist artwork and architecture. I learned that although the objects or images used might seem simple in form they could be interpreted in many number of ways. One of the structures that exemplified this was the Stupa, which was a building used as a reliquary for the purpose of preserving relics so that a practitioner could visit the structure and be spiritually enlightened by it. This video was my attempt at trying to show in a different form (computer animation) the depth of meaning that could be read by observing one of these structures. One of the ways of interpreting a stupa is by looking at what each of the levels of the structure represents. The video used a combination of computer animations and still images to express the meaning of these symbols.
I want my artwork to show how a single object can have meanings that we cannot grasp at first glance. I want it to show that when it comes sown to the images we see, their meaning goes beyond what we can interpret from our own experiences. I want to let people grasp what they take no notice of.

Hannah's Statement

“It’s important to abolish the unconscious dogmatism that makes people think their way of looking at reality is the only sane way of viewing the world. My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone,but agnosticism about everything.”



Robert Anton Wilson, quoted above, puts into words a motivation that I have had since mid-adolescence. It was then that I began to actively explore the possibilities of other realities and in turn my own perception began to shift dramatically. As a result, I generally feel that in our ‘age of certainty’, there remains much to discover.



I believe in believing in things that cannot be proven, and as I thought of the Robert Anton Wilson quote above, I noted that the educated flaunt an accumulation of information regarding general things such as trees, and roads, light, color and people. Every day we strive to confirm our beliefs of the hows and whats of our world’s content. Herein lies, for me, the broader goal in art making. I have always felt that art is the most potent tool for translating the challenging and significant content of the world – therefore I assume the responsibility of the maker, with high hopes of propelling our community into a future of radiant possibility.

A statement

Art is all about emotion and the portrayal of feelings. It puts what cannot be easily explained into images, sounds, or other forms and it creates a meaning about it. Since its meaning can be interpreted differently by different people, what is being felt by the artist may or may not get through to the viewer.

As an artist, I must develop an emotion towards my work of art and it is also my job to depict that emotion in a way that is acceptable and easily read by whoever sees it. Even though my reaction towards the piece may vary from viewers’ there can still be some sort of meaning derived from it. With video as a medium, there are several different ways to help convey these emotions: music, mise-en-scene, etc., with which to make the experience more full and that is the reason I am drawn to video.

Through art, it is my goal to provide the viewer with an experience that can be analyzed and interpreted in many different ways.

Sam's Statement

I always attempt to represent concepts and emotions as faithfully as possible from where they began in my mind. Of course, things do evolve during the process and I embrace change wholeheartedly if it works, but there's always a beginning, an amorphous ether of musings over idealized notions which ask to be reformed in a novel way and presented as art. I always want to explore the architecture of my psyche – a crossroads of memory, culture, philosophy (e.g. existentialism), the unknown, etc.

The process of conception becomes one of translation, extraction, and selection, to create a dialogue between the conscious world and the oft neglected "not-so-conscious" world – an intangible place of truths that I believe dictate all the goings-on in this world quite invisibly. It is a way of using the senses as a vehicle to stimulate or reawaken subconscious debris, and hopefully promote a reevaluation of the imposing mores established by a conditioned culture.

Inevitably, I want the final product to always be something stark, be that in its rawness, levity, darkness, presence, or sense of meditation. I want to hit a core in the same way I've seen some of my favorite artists do. The core is a place that, when revealed, leaves a permanent impression on people, not because of shock value or satiation of art world standards, but because of the unassuming power of realness.

Jon's Statement

The work stems with the wonderment of childhood. Growing up in an urban environment gave me a deep appreciation of nature when I first encountered it. One of the first family trips I remember was going to the botanical garden, and seeing the explosion of color in the springtime. It was also in the fifth grade when I went to an overnight camping trip where I came face to face with it. Unbridled nature, left on its own, an environment teeming with life. My friends and I had this sense of awe mixed with a dose of fear of the mysterious unknown we might encounter lurking in the woods. As an artist I observe how biological forms use mechanisms to propagate. Some examples are how plants encase its reproductive seed in layers of sheathing, patterns found in rice fields on steeped hills, and the gills of mushrooms capture my curiosity and become a striking tapestry to me. These desires that are evoked in nature influence my making. I want to also ask the viewer to look at their surroundings once again and question the way we perceive the world around us. What is this attraction that makes me want to decode or make sense of the way nature speaks in the way it grows.

In making sense of our world we look for visual cues that are familiar to us. Part of my curiosity in looking at patterns found in biology is unveiling the layers of information contained in it. My work looks at how nature is constructed from many parts that make a whole. I am interested at how this structure is dynamic and influenced by its various segments that dictate its form. The work has mathematical principles at work in the way nature grows and the mesmerizing rhythmic repetition. These progress in an algorithm that is inherent in its reproduction, forming a unified system of biological patterning.

What is the seduction of nature that causes us to stop and investigate? There is this odd attraction with the haphazard that we cannot encapsulate yet we attempt to do so. Our brain leans towards order and guides us to perceive the world to make sense of it. By this reason we are beholden to nature because it is infinity within our realm of experience. We seek out its mysteries because it gives us a look into the eternal as life continues to perpetuate itself.

Jessie's Statement

I call myself an artist because I love to visually show people the way that I see things. To me scenery, story, and emotion are present in everything at all times. Each one tells a piece of the other. However, I've never been great at painting or sculpting. I've never been really into music or poetry. I have found in making videos a way to tell a story the way I wanted it to be told, or a way to show a picture the way that I want it to unfold. In doing this over the past couple of years I'm able to watch myself grow as an artist. I have an obsession with color. It's not just bright color, but mixing colors or losing colors. As an artist I have chosen to make my work represent something people can relate to. If it pulls them away from themselves, there's got to be a small feeling of understanding left. With art you can mix light, sound, smell, touch, and story where it wouldn't be found usually. I believe that's what draws most people to art of all kinds.

Jeff's Statement

My approach to creating artwork usually involves three main aspects: perception, transparency & contradiction. I try not to plan outcomes, rather I prefer instead to think of art like a puzzle. I take my ideas and materials and ask them to interact. I am interested in these relationships and how they may be perceived by the viewer. I try to merge and layer these connections or disconnections to illustrate relationships. I am interested more in the before and after of the art. I consider my art to be residual, left behind or only part of the narrative. I find the relationship between man and environment peaks my interest the most. I am interested in the images that result from a human hand that will forever after battle with the natural elements for artistic dominance. It is that middle point, where it is unclear whether a brush or rusting metals that produced those strokes. Are we harnessing these elements of the natural environment or is it vice versa? Is there a message there in those images? I'm also starting to think more about time; duration, schedules and routines. Is there some grand cycle that we all are influenced by? Does this occur consciously or subconsciously? Many times my work involves repetitions of ideas, actions and materials. I try to understand the relationships between art of the past and the art of the present. Is there any difference? Are we repeating the same concepts and ideas, only through different mediums? Has everything already be done before? What is new? Sometimes the questions are more important than the answers. Questions cannot be right or wrong.