Of Atrophies and Reveries

Above is a snap from the exhibition of my most recent body of illustrations, Of Atrophies and Reveries. 

 I have learned that, as an artist, I am expected to give insightful explainations regarding the 'meaning' of my work to whomever is kind enough to take an interest in it. I have written about my preferred method of interpretation of my work before, and lets be real for a second here. I am truly horrible at providing articulate answers on the spot. Really truly. The pressure! I usually think I'm doing okay until I glance over at the person I'm directing my incomprehensible waffle at and they are looking back at me with skeptically arched brows and a healthy dose of 'what the hell are you on about?' blazing out their eyes. I'll keep working on it, I promise. But in the meantime if you all read this nicely prepared little artsy speech then I dont have to answer any stressful questions on the spot, right? Right!

Here we go then:

A great part of what we perceive is intangible and cannot be successfully expressed in a purely verbal manner, and because of this, many of our experiences are rendered indescribable. However, the substitution of verbal description for visual metaphor and allusion can communicate things that can scarcely be put into words, and I employ these techniques in my illustrations in order to give visual form to the ineffable.

By attempting to explicate the ambiguities and contradictions of human existence, visual metaphors appear to serve the same function as mythology and folklore. Myth has allowed people to make sense of the world around them by contrasting fundamental opposites, for example; night and day, love and hate, good and evil. The body of work Of Atrophies and Reveries is inspired by the notion that these dualities permeate almost all levels of existence. Symbols inherent to fables and myths as well as those of a personal nature are appropriated to illustrate an introspective journey. These illustrations endeavour to give form to the transient emotions and personal experiences in the form of idiosyncratic visual myths. 

Make sense? Please say yes.