For those just tuning in, I will be graduating from the Columbus College of Art and Design with my MFA on May 10th, 2014… Holy crap.
It's been a hell of a ride and I definitely believe that I have gotten exactly what I needed: a fresh perspective... a chance to evolve. I love my paintings but after a decade, I seem to have taken them as far as I could without becoming redundant or worse: a cliche' of myself. This left me in a sort of limbo. I kept asking myself; “Well, what NOW, smart guy?”
Indeed. I continued asking this question on a ceaseless loop throughout the whole of last year before being able to come up with any sort of answer. Looking back, I could see tendrils of my new direction aimlessly creeping along the ground in front of me... My first project came off the wall and directly confronted the viewer, ready to fight. A spray of puzzle pieces on the ground screamed at me to go deeper. The second project distorted my vision – challenging me to skew my perception, while still actively reducing and distilling my visual language. By the time the summer rolled around, it felt like I was losing my mind, so I stopped fighting that feeling and just let it happen.
Best decision EVER. Enter my thesis project.
What began as a reactionary series of work born of personal experience, has quickly become an examination of diagnosis, treatment and the various perceptions of each.
As taxing a series as “Survival Tactics” has been on my overall well being, it's also been a real win for me, in that I feel more capable of evenly straddling low and highbrow sensibilities. In essence, I've learned to embrace my bipolar nature across the board. I now find a certain “mid-brain” satisfaction in being able to function in opposing extremes and to do so with greater ease.
What that means, is that my hiatus is officially over... time to get back to work!! There are residencies to seek out, grants to apply to and art fairs to reconnect with. Many of the galleries I am associated with are mostly paint-centric, pop oriented or strictly underground/counter-culture. My hope is that they will be willing to continue representing me in this new incarnation, while also opening doors to a wider range of venues and possibilities. Fortunately, I've got a solid foundation, a loyal following and a long-standing, positive reputation to back me up...
