The following passage was the introduction to my first year (first semester) folio at University and basically sums up my opinions towards contemporary art (for this week anyway). Yeh, I know, I sound like every other art student with a romantic view of 'art for art's sake'. I just hope I can keep up this niave faith until I die.
The theme of my work revolves around the relationship between organic forms and the light that brings them alive.
I want my images to stand on their own as photographs, without the need of an excuse for their existence. They are an exploration of what I love about life: the passion and beauty of the natural form. The glow of life, whether it be in the texture of a leaf or the radiance of a back-lit shell is something that will always be a driving factor in my work.
I was not interested in theoretical ideas in the creation of this collection of prints. Many artists feel the need to back up their images with a conceptual stepping stone, giving the audience a further grasp on their work. I believe this can be an important aspect in some works of art, but the current fashion often takes this too far, and usually ignores artistic skill in the rush to create a new social statement. Superficial theory has become all too important in contemporary art as Post-Modernism attempts to strangle the passion in art with its sterile, sometimes vaguely amusing, reflections of a bitter society. It panders to the public, dulling the mind like the effects of the repetitive imagery that our present-day population is used to. We are no longer shocked by the horrific aspects of human life. Another bloody murder becomes boring, so we simply flick the channel. Life is becoming increasingly more like the shallow imaginations of the influential materialists that feed our short attention spans. As a result, people have forgotten the basic wonders of life, submitting to a commercial culture that fills the mind with flashing images of greed and prosaic trivialities. We are encouraged to forget any aspect of a spiritual existence, and instead worship the ideal of physical and economical gratification.
I could probably produce politically motivated or popular imagery forever, but how could I keep from becoming another grain of sand in the desert of 'fashionable' art? (or retain what sanity I have?) If I am going to become another struggling artist among thousands, then I at least want to know that my images contribute a reminder of life to the mass of current art. Too easily we forget the world that raised us, the undersides of leaves we explored, or the sparkle of the sun in a puddle we squinted at with infant eyes. I like to think of my works as being somewhat spiritual, although not in the least religiously biased. Instead they are a reminder for myself, if no-one else, of the innocent magic the world contains. As a citizen of the 'contemporary' world, I am the first to admit my naivety of what surrounds us. Not ignorance, simply an all too optimistic trust of people as a whole. Unfortunately, like many others, I find myself fighting against the people who assure us of their integrity. The struggle to keep absolute cynicism from infecting the soul is overpowering. Many artists try to rebel against the reactionary ideals we face by fighting fire with fire. They are fighting a bitter majority with bitter work, raising our awareness but killing our joy of life. So why not fight fire with magic? The magic of a renewed love of the innocent.
My works aim to reopen the eyes to a world of simple beauty.