Julian's statement

My art is selfish and self-indulgent. It does not care if you are aware of it, or if it holds any meaning for you. In this way it is a guilty pleasure. It is not an exercise in self-exploration. It is not an exercise. My art is about the idea. It is about externalizing that idea before it becomes confused, muddled, or forgotten. It is consuming. My art is a willful manipulation of the soul; it intensifies, it dulls. It is wistful and nostalgic, and being so, is often yearning and sometimes brooding.  It exists to define an idea and to control a sentiment.

My art is selfless and generous. It cares about spreading awareness on issues, and making those issues emotionally charged for the audience. In this way it is philanthropic. It is also an exercise in self-exploration, a careful exercise in discovery. My art is about the moment. It is about recording that moment as I experience it, taking note of the mood. It is fleeting. My art is a spontaneous manipulation by the soul; it rises, it falls. It is whimsical and optimistic, and being so, is often light and sometimes witty. It exists as an idea and a sentiment. 

Corey's statement

I make art because I am compelled to do it. By demons. They live in my brain, but sometimes they take a boat through my blood straight down to my heart and they vacation there. Demons get a bad name. Probably because of the Bible, which is bullshit, but most people don't like to hear that. I like my demons because they make me think things that are different than the things I am supposed to think. For example, when I hear Joe Cocker's cover of Help From My Friends at a bar, I should remember The Wonder Years and then just get drunk. Instead, the demons remind me about the last episode of The Wonder Years where Winnie and Kevin get stuck in the rain on a long desolate road, and they go inside a barn and have a fight, but then they end up laying in the hay and making love. And the camera cranes out and Kevin's adult voiceover tells us that they never saw one another again, and then Kevin's children ask him to go out and play. My demons remind me that I am a melancholic depressive, and the thought of living in that barn in that moment with those people who loved each other so much but couldn't ever be together was the most horrible and wonderful thought I'd ever experienced as a child. My demons compel me to get out a sheet of paper and make a drawing about this incident. Everyone else at the bar keeps drinking and belting out that hilarious part of the song where Joe goes all crazy like, "Waaaaaaaaaooooooooah!" but I'm sitting there in a sketchbook, letting time fly by and letting my Imperial Russian Stout get warm. Which is okay, because it tastes a little better at room temperature.

Kolleen's statement

I do not see myself as an artist, I see myself as a filmmaker. Calling myself an artist adds pressure to the work that I want to create. I feel like there is an outline that artist have to follow, which is to make their art abstract and unique. When someone sees my video, I want them to think that it is unique, but I want them to be able to understand the point that I am making and not have to guess the point. I am a filmmaker because it is a way to tell stories that have not been told through my eyes and with my vision.

Rashida's statement

My decision to go into film stemmed from my appreciation of all forms of art. The amazing thing about film is that it is a combination of photography, music, theatre, literature through dialogue, fashion and costume design, and even animation and graphic design.  I have always been a very visual person so any medium that allows me to express myself visually naturally draws me in.  My decision to go into film, particularly cinematography, as a career rather than a hobby is largely influenced by my experiences with being misrepresented in film and television and my knowledge of the marginalizing effect that this has on misrepresented groups. With my career in film, I aim to give a voice to the groups who have been previously silenced, misrepresented, or rendered invisible.

Chris' Statement

I believe art emerges from a want and or need to solve a problem creatively and not just a black and white fix. Whether it be to create something for personal enjoyment or for a more commercialized reason, putting together a design and creating a work of art with tangible things to me represents a form of beauty and satisfaction. Ever since I was a child I discovered the enjoyment of creating and manipulating things into artwork. I used to design complex models with Popsicle sticks when I was 9 years old. I can pretty much say my first works of art were incorporating the essentials, composition and proportion, building blocks which directly influence me still today. My parents encouraged my creativity by sending me to CCAD classes on the weekends when I was young. They still encourage me today by buying me the occasional computer accessory and supplying words of wisdom.

As an artist and an aspiring digital graphic artist, I have enjoyed exploring new and sometimes difficult mediums. While I have always had an innate ability to form art with my hands through drawing and sculpting, I have always pushed myself to explore and work with numerous mediums ranging from a simple piece of charcoal to create a drawing, to powdered glass to created glass sculptures. As I began my official education to become a digital artist I felt that designing would be a natural extension of my drawing and sculpting abilities as well as my way of thinking. I came to find out it was much harder to not have something tangible to form with your hands, and have it just be displayed on a screen. During my time as a student I found that all of the challenges I faced in the classes and on the computer made me appreciate how much work and thought it takes to make something that you are so disconnected from into a thing of beauty. Sometimes I draw out a quick sketch of an artwork I will create, but more often I don't, I often fit together visually aesthetic parts of a work to form it into a more composed and complex work of art. I build around the initial piece in layers, placing more objects into the artwork and increasing its complexity and depth.

One artist that inspired me is Stacy Reed. She is a digital artist as well as a photographer. Stacy said “ Chaos. Infinity. Immortality. The idea that there is something beyond what we know, something larger than our existence, yet perhaps something as simple as a single string of code. These concepts fascinate me and provide the foundation of my passion for fractals.” I feel her complexity is much more ordered and thought out than mine, but it is definitely the concept I strive for. Her concept of being apart of something greater and greater allows her and me to be more inspired to create the illusion of depth, figuratively and or conceptually, in our work. I add, bit by bit, until I feel that I have accomplished something worth my effort. The work is finished when what I imagined is on the page or screen.

It is very hard for me to describe my personal idea of what art is, as it changes from every new class I take to every new program I learn. I enjoy artistic challenges, each of which I try to put forth all of my creative energy. My work as an artist propels my imagination allowing me to think of new and exciting possibilities. “Our imaginations lead to our creations” Chris Zajd. For example, my digital work called Under The Bed resulted from the idea of another world existing within our own. The light bulb moment happened when I imagined a cross between the movies Toy Story and Cars. The difference is that I had to give the cars emotional qualities and character with out the aid of movement or animation. The art I create is imaginative, with many levels of layers and or meanings, and expressive and I feel that it’s that type of artwork that I appreciate the most from other artists.

Chris' statement

A
Apple
A peel
A peal
Appeal
Appealing

I want to create blank canvasses or clean slates; using subjects/objects/concepts that are so full of meaning, carrying so much baggage they have become white noise, absent of meaning and ripe for reinterpretation.

Sarah's statement

Projection, reflection, repetition, inversion, and reversal have all been consistent formal and conceptual elements of my work. These things all have an effect on perception, and disrupt our expected notions and assumptions about objects and spaces. I often begin with a process of examining the assumptions that I make about the environments and objects around me. Often, a simple shift in how I choose to define something provides fertile territory for exploration. My work is an ongoing attempt to create a real space in which fictional worlds can exist. I make installations, short films and videos that immerse the viewer in a space, and often due to the universally recognizable imagery of these spaces, (a sea-side village, a desert landscape) these works seem to operate somewhere between the personal memory of a place and the collective memory gained through cultural representation of a place.  I strive for a simplicity within my work, and my methods are very intuitive. I'm interested in finding ways to give film and video a physicality, whether through installation, projections, or approaching film-making site-specifically. For me, film and architecture are very related. The permeability of a building is often overlooked, but walls, floors and ceilings often provide only a thin barrier between us and the movements and noises of our family, or neighbors. I believe my ability to block out the movements of my neighbors is linked to the suspension of disbelief on which film is dependent.
In And Then, You Act (New York, NY: Routledge, 2007), theater innovator Anne Bogart quotes Romanian director Andrei Serban as once saying, “[Theater] does not really happen on the stage. It happens in the audience’s head.” The ability of the human mind to internalize both illusion and reality with the only real difference being how they are each contextualized is at the root of my work.

Troy's statement

well what i want to portray in my art whether its through video, drawing, or sculpture i wanted to show that simplicity is a great tool in creating ideas and delivering messages. to me being complex and having to much stuff in artwork can sometime cover the message an artist wants to provide to it's viewers. to me being an artist is almost like being a cook, you can use fancy ingredients, add layers upon layers of toppings, but sometimes or usually it takes away from the star in the dish. if you want to show people how well you can cook fish, then the fish should stand out the most in your meal, not the toppings. Art is the same way, so i try to simplify sometimes my artwork so that most individuals whether you have an intensive art background or not you can still enjoy my art just as much as someone who does have an intensive background in art. so to put it simple the message i want to give is, "this is me" hate it or love it.

Farah's statement

For some art could be a painting, for someone art could be a music, but for me art is my imagination. I like to create a new way of art using materials in an unexpected way to be creative and unique in some unusual ways. I don’t like to involve so many people when making an art; actually I prefer to work with myself and no one else. It is hard to share your idea with someone else and expect him to understand it the way you think of it. Sometimes it is hard to explain your work to someone because it reflects your subconscious mind. I’m satisfied with my work “In my wonder head” because I controlled and work in each single detail by myself. If I didn’t like something I did, it is easy to fix it with satisfaction, but if I didn’t like something others did in my project it is hard to complain about it. I like Photoshop a lot that sometimes I wish I can Photoshop my life to be perfect. My friends call me photos solutions manual because I always find solutions to their photos through Photoshop. I prefer working with small art projects that are smaller than me because that give me the feeling of control over my works. I cannot decide which colors I prefer to use with my art works because it depends on the place, time, mood, feelings, and the imagination I am thinking of when doing my art work. When people see my work I would like them to think of these five things I mentioned, I want them to think a lot and ask little. The hardest thing to explain for me is to explain my art works.

Abigail's statement

I am an artist that focuses on questioning social convention in societies. I focused on religion in class, challenging why so many of us accept the idea of religion and it’s structure. Is it possible to believe in god and not religion.

I don’t want to enforce an idea on anyone but to get them to see something from a different angle without judgment, and being open to the fact that we as a society interpret things differently as time goes on, but that it is not necessarily right just different.

Tarzan's statement

When I make art I want to create thought, whether or not its good or bad. Also I make art for myself, an not for others. I believe it art is like a voice, it yours and not someone else's.

Janelle's statement

I create art for truths that I cannot define with words because words are either inadequate or do not exist. Practically speaking, this could be seen in a portrait where a strength or emotion lingers under the surface, or with a piece that asks more questions than it gives answers. I also inject a certain amount of pointed humor in my work to either make the viewer laugh or to be taken aback by my point of view.

I typically use photography to make my work, but video overcomes some of the limitations of still photography. I enjoy being able to communicate with the viewer differently. I feel that photography can tell a story, but it’s based on inferences from a still or group of stills. Video allows for further communication, and allows for a full range of expression in its immediacy.

Allison's statement

I think people are really interesting and whenever I watch movies or read I am usually more interested in the characters than the plot. I want my art to be focused on people and their emotions and development. I am not very interested in adding sound effects or music because I feel that too many varied sounds can detract from the images I want my audience to focus on.

Melissa's statement

I use art to try and make sense of my life. To give order to the chaos of my past and to give purpose to what interests me. I’m not sure if it’s working, but it’s all about the attempt.

Jeneane's statement

I’ve been working on this idea about a collage. Not a typical paper college but the concept of a collage—getting information, cutting it up and putting it together again: Turning it into a different message. For me, this is what art is all about. It’s about that collage process and that communication. First I see things in my environment and then I record. This is the base information, and I can break it down or combine it with something parallel or even completely unrelated. What I hope to accomplish with this process is making the end product say something more meaningful than mundane, or to highlight connections and contradictions between abstract objects and humanity.

Samantha's statement

Art is a personal statement that I use to express my ideas through. It is important for me to show a perspective of the human that differs from the reckless co-modification of its spirit. I feel that the world is caught up in greed, commercialism, and materiality that it overlooks the essence of what we are as human beings. We are meant to be expressive, we are meant to experience the world through our senses, we are meant to build a community together. I have been searching for my calling, what I have destined myself to do. I wish to show people that the potential of the human mind is beyond our current state of comprehension. I want to inspire people to live to their fullest potential, and cast aside anything that confines them. I seek to serve the greater good of humanity, to inspire and cultivate the wellspring of innovation of the creative mind. I question, through various artworks, What and Whose purpose do you serve?

Michael's statement

I participate in a very left-brained world. Everything has to make sense and fit a logical flow. Numbers control everything that I do. Therefore, I use art to explore my creative side which is often suppressed in classes and jobs based on quantitative ideas. I have my own ideas floating throughout my head which are a lot more abstract. Art is my channel to release my thoughts and feelings. Video is my medium of choice. Sometimes I do not have a purpose of making videos, yet I sit down and create. Create something. Anything. There is something about this act that is soothing in an otherwise stressful world.

Adrian's Statement

As an artist at heart and an artist by nature, I have always had a mysterious attraction to the visual medium. However, most of my artwork, if not all of it, is merely pencil-on-paper action, so to speak. That said, I have asked myself several times, "What would other art styles be like?" Therefore I aspire to try other mediums of art aside from simple drawing and coloring, including animation, video, and sound.
While stereotypical artists view the objects around them as simply things to draw, I view them as things of beauty and value. Anything can be a trigger for the creative spark, be it in its shape, motion, color, or style. But I can also testify to the fact that there is more to art than just the objects involved. I see it as a tool for the imagination, for speaking the creative mind. In the past my artistic spark took over a lot of my daily life, but ever since I started drawing I have learned to harness it for my own good.

In sum, art is my life. Therefore, I strive to live through art.

Whitney's Statement

Many people create art to express feelings or their personality. Some create art for others to purchase or enjoy. Some just like to use their medium as a source of letting out emotion, rather it be anger, happiness or mere melancholy. I, on the other hand, like to make my viewer question the meaning of my work. My art isn't just for me, it's for others to interpret. That is my favorite thing to hear-people's opinions on what my work means. I want to effect and change people's negative opinion of what art is and is not. Simply put, I make art because I feel like it. If I'm inspired, I do something about it.

Nicklaus' Statement

In my art I try to question the typical explanation of what is beautiful in our world. And to reassess what we hold to be traditional, rational, and beautiful to better open our minds to a highly diverse world and all that it has to offer.

Neil's Statement

Growing up the youngest of three in a small town, I frequently created my own means of amusement. Years later and I continue to channel this creative process, evolving it more specifically to focus on art. Daily, I appreciate my freedom and flexibility to produce art based upon my personal experience and preferences. In my opinion, to possess this talent is a huge blessing, gift, and opportunity to impact others.

Art can be interpreted in countless ways, making it unique to each viewer. My art is an outward expression of my life experiences, memories, and emotions. From the stories represented in my art, the viewer creates a new story to be shared.

I am interested in how people create memories, how memories evolve, and how they influence others. Many ideas and interests come from my involvement with community service. The infectious nature a positive attitude and selfless action has on our surroundings is incredible. My artwork urges viewers to reflect on their life and positively transform their lives and environment.

Brandon's statement

I’ve come to love the process of creating and learning at the same time. The struggle to learn new software one particular day, for instance, is always offset by a newfound ability to present my vision to others a little more clearly. I love to learn because it helps me create. And I love to create because it helps me learn!

Robert's statement

Stories are very important to me. I usually find myself reacting more strongly to fictional stories than to things that happen in real life. By controlling the way a story is told, the audience is pushed into feeling however the storyteller intends, assuming the storyteller knows what they are doing. Events or characters that normally would not be interesting can be made interesting by the storyteller's techniques, and stories can make people feel that they've experienced things that they really haven't, like fighting in a war or turning into a cat, or even getting to know, or even love, a person that doesn't exist in our reality. I also like using stories to expose people to new ideas or to my viewpoint of the world, and to make them feel what I feel when I come up with stories.

At the other end, art can put people in a position that they might not otherwise ever occupy. An individual image can create an entire world in the mind of the viewer and put them in that world. I particularly enjoy the horror genre for showing people scary or disturbing things/ideas, I think because of my view of the world and a desire to show the easily-satisfied, mindless zombie masses the truth (although it's also true that I tend to find most kinds of monsters visually and conceptually pleasing). I also love science fiction for showing worlds that currently do not exist but are theoretically possible, or even likely in the future. By the same token, I only find myself interested in fantasy when the storytelling techniques are strong enough; things have to be based in reality or I don't feel a connection. Basically, art can give people strong experiences that they otherwise would not have, potentially affecting them for life.

Everything outside of that would simply fall into pure aesthetic pleasure with nothing more behind it (not that there necessarily needs to be).

Betsy's statement

As an artist and as a person I am interested in the beauty of the every day, mundane world around us. I want to remember the sort of magic and wonder each day held when I was a small child, like the way a sunset can turn a dull room into brilliant fiery gold or the hush brought by a snowfall. While I may be an adult I do not have to leave behind what it felt like to be a child existing in a land of fantasy and wonderment, and I feel my art reflects this. The things that we see every day are often the most beautiful, and with my art I try to express that feeling of beauty without forgetting the reality that created it.

Meagan's statement

I like to make art that is about other people. I like to draw
strangers in restaurants and record candid conversations. I don't
really care if that is creepy. I like to see how other people
construct a self through narratives. I like seeing what people will do
in different situations; I like doing experiments. I want all of this
stuff to be intimate bordering on embarrassing for me and for them,
but in a nice way. I like it when people try to explain things they
believed when they were little kids. I like that lo-fi shit. I like to
do interviews. I like letting other people make art.