This World, not that World: An Artist's Statement

About the Book

An artist goes out and paints, sculpts, draws, knits, welds, cuts, burns, breaks, forms, and sacrifices for creating his work. More often than not, whom he is and what he has created gets more emphasis than why he does it. Trying to convey the meaning behind art has always been a tough task for anyone one to talk about, let alone write about. I think it is important to write about art, not just for the people and patrons of today, but also for the people of tomorrow. The people of the future will look at the art of today for answers of how people of today interpreted the world around them. The question of why anyone creates art is important to me because I try to paint and give reasons for my own art. I find it comforting to know why others take on the task of creating art because it makes me feel like I’m not the only insane person out there trying to make art. The task of creating art gives little reward of money or fame for most people. We will not see an appreciation for the sacrifice or torture of trying to get that one piece just right. We will not transport the few people who see our work into our realm of creative existence. Yet we go out and spend money and our precious little time banging our heads up against the wall, creating our art pieces. Why? What is this irresistible force pushing us to create our art? Maybe we create art for our ego, the need to leave something behind, or just for the sake of creating something. I have heard these reasons before, and I don’t buy them. The truth of why I do art is the vision gets under my skin, and I can’t stop until I create the vision. I will get at these points in my life, and I will feel the urge to do something creative, and I will become wickedly determine to do it. I don’t resist the urges; I usually just give in and go with the flow. I could go on about ideas and the concepts, but in truth, I fulfill a deep seeded need.

About the Author

After graduating from college, I realized I needed more of a creative outlet. I decided to pursue drawing, sketching, and fine art painting to develop my rendering skills. After several years of painting at night and on the weekends, I decided to look for a gallery to represent my work. I was told I should develop an artist statement to help people understand my paintings. I started writing the artist statement, and it developed into This World, Not that World: An Artist Statement. I decided while I was writing my artist statement, I needed to be more descriptive and to borrow from life events to get across the meaning of my artist statement.