Artist Statement

With almost seven years between each of three sisters, it has been relatively natural for me to retain my child induced mindset. Just as my interest in Santa Claus, snow forts, and Mousetrap persists, I also find myself still mesmerized by bright colors, plush characters, and shiny things that glisten and gleam. As the eldest, I have always been intrigued by my ability to influence my little sisters in terms of creativity through the arts. For instance, when I first discovered Sculpe and its creative possibilities, I shared it with my sister and realized how much we could teach each other despite our tremendous skill and age difference. It was refreshing for me to see her creative processes that may or may not have been loosely interpreted from my own artistic approach. But no matter how hard I may try to scribble outside the lines, my art will never express the same immaculate innocence of a child’s creative expression.

Based on this idea of process and how it relates to creative expression, my senior piece will deconstruct “crafting” in its magnitude of form and materials in an attempt to elicit crafting as an art form, especially in relevance to childhood crafts that use popsicle sticks and macaroni for example. The thought of using rudimentary techniques as a form of self expression takes the focus away from both the formal intentions constructed by the artist as well as the finished outcome, and instead focuses on the impulsive desires to create and be creative using any available means necessary. It is this implicit freedom from reservations and desire to express visually without fear of judgement that makes crafting for little kids so different from crafting for adults.

As a way of demonstrating the compelling outcomes of combining childhood crafting with sophisticated style, my film for my senior show piece will blend an array of materials, techniques, and processes in an attempt to encourage a resurface of creativity and playfulness in the act of crafting. Everyday objects like blankets, tin foil, wall surfaces, wood grain, paperclips, bottle caps, transform and move to create images and patterns to insinuate inventiveness and resourcefulness to express creative thinking. Yarn in particular will come to life taking different forms, spelling words, making patterns, and moving with a mind of its own. Using experimental techniques of filming and editing, I will utilize video and its ability to translate time to underline the creative process in order to stretch the boundaries between film, design, and craft in a way that mimics the freedom to scribble beyond the lines.