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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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].