ARTIST STATEMENT

     I want my art to be a safe space. A place that I can run away to and hide in. At first, in my head a safe space was an escape and a distraction. I turn to other people’s art to escape my reality, and wanted my work to serve that same purpose for others. But now, I’ve realized that my work cannot serve as an escape from the real world because it is ​about​ the real world. How can my art be an escape from something that it’s based on? So, what happens to my safe space?

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     Nothing. Nothing happens to my safe space - it is still there. Only now, it is a safe space to talk about the real world instead of a space to hide from it. In a way, it still is an escape, just not entirely. It is still in the real world, just slightly separated. I no longer want it to be completely separated from the real world. There is too much going on in the real world to not talk about it. You can’t escape it. In fact, I don’t ​want ​to escape it. There is so much I don’t understand. I am so confused. I want to make sense of it all.

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     I want to confuse people because I am confused. I want to make people think. I want to talk about time. I want to talk about my synesthesia. I want to talk about my dreams. I want to talk about my family dynamic. I want to express my confusion. I want people to feel compelled to keep looking at my art. I want to make art for myself. I want to make art for other people. I want to help people. I want help, myself. I want to make art for a lot of different reasons. My art is not just about one thing. 

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     Now, my art is still a safe space, just not an escape. It is a safe space to make sense of what I want to run away from. It is a place to discuss, to decipher, and to understand. It is a place that transforms something off-putting into something welcoming. It is a place for people to feel comfortable. It is a place for people to feel at home. It is a place where it is okay to be confused.

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     I don’t have to escape to feel safe, as much as I may want to. I want to make other people feel that way. I want to make people less alone. I am confused, I want to escape, and I do not understand. Everyone is confused, everyone wants to escape, nobody understands. The world is a confusing place, and I want to talk about it. I want to encourage other people to talk about it. I want people to come to my safe space. I want people to talk to me. Let’s talk about the world.

 

Let’s get confused.

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