MFA Thesis

Remedy

Artist Statement

As a non-representational artist formalism has always been an important factor in my creative development because the main focus is exclusively on the qualities of color, brushstrokes, line, form, composition and etc. In this body of work, the formal qualities convey feelings and are not exclusively focused on shape, form, and color. My emotions started to manifest into my artwork once my mother was diagnosed with cancer. My mother having cancer created an anxiety I’ve never experienced. In my achromatic paintings and prints, I am presenting ideas of what anxiety looks like and how I learn or attempt to control it through the act of meditation.

My anxiety is manifested as constant emotions of overthinking and restlessness; I presented this emotion with layers of transparency, dynamic repetitive marks, and active strokes. I use these techniques in both my paintings and prints to visually express the constant movement my mind undergoes because of my anxiety. I attempt to control my anxiety through meditation as it blocks out the negative thoughts and overthinking. Meditation has inspired my use of color blocking or overlapping shapes in solid layers of pigment overlaying the repetitive dynamic marks to create an area of stillness or calmness for the eyes. When I come across the solid layers of pigment in my paintings and prints the eyes have a moment of rest after looking at the active brushstrokes and repetitive marks.

With formalism, I am able to create emotion or my own vocabulary with the basic visual components used to make art. Using this method to convey a narrative in my artwork gives me the opportunity to have a conversation with my artwork and reflect on how losing my mother to cancer affected me mentally and how I learn to recover from it.