Proposal Statement
As an emerging artist the possibility of the Art Ventures grant comes at a critical time in my career. I am at a point where my artistic development has out grown my financial means and to continue to grow would necessitate outside support. I have the desire, like many artists at this juncture, to create work that is not only larger in scale but also of greater significance. The funds requested would allow me to take the crucial next step towards creating work that is appropriate for a professional artist and also to fulfill the need to create a specific body of work.
With the funds from the grant I propose to create a series of large paintings that engage the viewer in the mysteries of spirituality. Not a spiritual experience that relies on religion but rather one that focuses on the inward glance of the audience. By making the works larger than the viewers themselves I seek to create something with its own physical presence that demands interaction with those in the room. Furthermore I want the work to have a strong psychological presence, a threshold that invites introspection and quiet meditation. I want to draw the viewer in and have them experience a sensation of being overwhelmed.
The works themselves will be close in appearance to an earlier series of small, ink on paper drawings I created entitled Corpus (images of which are include in this application) For those pieces, as will be the case for Black Pilgrimage, I drew inspiration largely from human anatomy, the cranium as seen by MRI, the butterfly shape of the pelvis, limbs, structural orifices and soft tissues. With these new paintings I seek to present more of a complete figural image. Again, not one rooted in representation but bordering on abstraction.
I take further inspiration from the Abstract Expressionist school (Mark Rothko’s “black paintings” in particular), the ink-blot drawings of 18th century German poet Justinus Kerner, the art and writing of 60’s beat figure Majorie Cameron, fringe belief structures, occultism, symmetry, self-control and obsession.
The majority of the funds will be used to buy the materials needed in order to create the series of ten 84”x52” acrylic on canvas paintings. A portion of the grant will be used to transport the work and to hire the services of a professional photographer to document it for the purposes of exhibition submissions.
With the aid of the Community Foundation I feel confident I can complete the goal I have set out for myself and mark my transition into the role of professional artist.
Proposal Statement
As an emerging artist the possibility of the Art Ventures grant comes at a critical time in my career. I am at a point where my artistic development has out grown my financial means and to continue to grow would necessitate outside support. I have the desire, like many artists at this juncture, to create work that is not only larger in scale but also of greater significance. The funds requested would allow me to take the crucial next step towards creating work that is appropriate for a professional artist and also to fulfill the need to create a specific body of work.
With the funds from the grant I propose to create a series of large paintings that engage the viewer in the mysteries of spirituality. Not a spiritual experience that relies on religion but rather one that focuses on the inward glance of the audience. By making the works larger than the viewers themselves I seek to create something with its own physical presence that demands interaction with those in the room. Furthermore I want the work to have a strong psychological presence, a threshold that invites introspection and quiet meditation. I want to draw the viewer in and have them experience a sensation of being overwhelmed.
The works themselves will be close in appearance to an earlier series of small, ink on paper drawings I created entitled Corpus (images of which are include in this application) For those pieces, as will be the case for Black Pilgrimage, I drew inspiration largely from human anatomy, the cranium as seen by MRI, the butterfly shape of the pelvis, limbs, structural orifices and soft tissues. With these new paintings I seek to present more of a complete figural image. Again, not one rooted in representation but bordering on abstraction.
I take further inspiration from the Abstract Expressionist school (Mark Rothko’s “black paintings” in particular), the ink-blot drawings of 18th century German poet Justinus Kerner, the art and writing of 60’s beat figure Majorie Cameron, fringe belief structures, occultism, symmetry, self-control and obsession.
The majority of the funds will be used to buy the materials needed in order to create the series of ten 84”x52” acrylic on canvas paintings. A portion of the grant will be used to transport the work and to hire the services of a professional photographer to document it for the purposes of exhibition submissions.
With the aid of the Community Foundation I feel confident I can complete the goal I have set out for myself and mark my transition into the role of professional artist.