For my usual Artist Statements, I start off by talking about my usual choice of medium, the direction I like to take my art, etc. But, this has not been a usual year, and thus my art has been far from the norm, so I think it’s only fair my Artist Statement is as well. Due to the bizarre nature of this year, my art practices changed drastically. Emotionally, mentally, and physically I have and still am dealing with so much, that my usual way of creating art no longer felt pleasurable. I tried to wrestle with this fact by completely branching off and trying something new, which I am still attempting to do at this moment. These were some of my first attempts in life at abstract art, and they were some of the only artwork I completed this year that I actually liked the result of. My first attempt, Untitled, was my way of easing into the world of abstraction, and simply focusing on color, mark making, and texture. Then, I dove into abstraction that had some sort of representation attached to it, to focus on my feelings of conflict surrounding a particular event in history. Turns out, being stuck sitting in your room for hours on end, day after day, can leave someone (especially a senior) rather unmotivated, and uninspired. However I think my solution worked out rather well. By removing the stress of needing to create something beautiful, I ended up with artwork that I actually enjoyed and meant something to me. Moving forward, even when the pandemic is over, I will continue to experiment and be less focused on making something “beautiful” or “perfect,” especially to others. What this year has taught me is that simply the practice of making art is quite enough.

Art has been a huge part of my life for as long as I could hold a pencil. Before I was in grade school, I spent hours on end coloring and drawing. Around age 9, I began to try to teach myself how to draw specific things, usually having to do with portraits and the figure. Youtube was a humongous help. Despite people constantly asking if I had a second plan, I always said I wanted to be an artist when I grew up, and I stuck to it. By the time I finally got to college, and could officially study art full time, it felt like I was finally where I was meant to be. Everything was great, and then Covid hit. I spent my second and last year at UW completely online, and I have had to approach art making in a completely different way. My goals are still the same, as I still wish to become a concept artist for video games and animated films, but it is amazing how much doing art school online can make you doubt yourself. In my opinion, the one good thing about this whole situation is that it is teaching me how to truly trust myself as an artist and as an individual walking into adulthood. The point is: everything is scary and uncertain right now, but I have faith that I will figure it out, because that is just what life is–figuring it out. And, I know that I have a love for art, so I will eventually land where I need to be, however long it takes me. I think this is an important thing for artists to remember.