The Path: 2008 Taylor Senior Show

This is my equivalent of a Senior Thesis. Each art student regardless of specialization was required to complete a gallery-style art show for graduation that would display the skills that they learned throughout their years at Taylor. My show combines digital photography, heavy digital manipulation (mostly through Photoshop, but also with a bit of InDesign thrown in) as well as drawing.

The following is a copy of my artist statement as displayed with my Senior Show, following each work is a basic description of its content (though none of its meaning, art is completed in the mind of the viewer after all).

"I create because I feel that I am driven to do so. I believe that everyone has the capacity to create and should strive to be creative. The race of man is called by God to be his Image Bearers. While this means different things to different people, as an artist, I see it as a mandate to be creative. God himself is the Supreme Creator, creating everything, and by being creative we can gain insight into the ‘personality’ of God.

My style of choice is illustration. My most prominent influences are comics and graphic novels. Those that have captured my imagination run the gamut from cartoonist Bill Waterson’s Calvin and Hobbes; being the first comic that I had ever read (his Tracer Bullet story-arcs at the fore-front), to graphic novelists such as Mike Mignola, the artist of “Hellboy,” David Lloyd of “V for Vendetta” and more recently, Niko Henrichon, the artist for “Pride of Baghdad.” The illustrative styles of graphic novels create vast, dark shadows and grainy feel on paper that captures part of the grime and gritty reality of the world.

An important influence in my work is music. Music gives focus to my mind’s eye and allows it to freely wander. In this work, the layout and form of each piece is partially inspired by a song. The songs inspired the framework of meaning behind each piece and the collection as a whole. While the work itself is a linear narrative, the songs that formed each piece are from a different artist and of a different style.

The path of life is made up of a series of hills and valleys…

Everyone has difficulties in their lifetime, which are as different as the people who have them. Everyone has been down that dark corridor and faced with a choice. We all must make the choice; when hopelessness and despair weigh heavily on our soul do we let it crush us or do we push on in spite of it? The path of life will inevitably lead us into a valley, but the moment of truth, is when atrophy and hope wage war. There are those who wallow and fail in the valley, but there are those who press on and follow the path to the summit and bathe in the sun."

The first 3 pieces in the body of work were displayed on a wall together, to create a connection between the 3 figures in the separate works.

Cornerstone (1st of 3)
An angel, sitting and waiting to come to the defense of his charge, bearing the scars of previous encounters.
You Are Everything (2 of 3)

A man standing at the entrance to a dark alley way, preparing to begin his journey to the light in the distance.

Fury (3 of 3)

A devil, sitting and waiting for the moment to act and prevent his target from reaching his goal, to leave him lost in the shadows.

Losing An Artform

The man finds himself in an unfamiliar place, lost within the valley. Unable to find his way, his goal seams distant and unreachable.

The Last Letter

With the weight of his endeavour and crushing despair start to wear upon him, he contemplates the easy way, to give up and flounder in hopelessness.

Supernatural

The angel and the devil wage war over the man's soul, both fight for the man's surrender.

I'm Diving In

(After the piece, I'm Diving In, the show stopped and moved to a different wall to create dramatic tension). The man stands at the brink, forcing himself to make the decision of whether to jump or not.

On Distant Shores

The man kneels in a church, having chosen hope over despair, he dives into the mercy of God, finding that surrender does not always mean loss.

Recall

The man walks forward, Bible in hand, towards his goal, leaving the broken and defeated demon behind him. His guardian has lead him from the shadows and entering the light.

I Am Free

The man has removed his coat, having left the world of shadow, he has finally reached his goal and takes a moment to rest in the sun.

While there is much more symbolism in the body of work, I have left out the description of most of it so that the viewers can find it for themselves, because if you give out all the answers, people will stop looking for them.