Inside and Outside

Hello, friends. I thought I'd take some time to have a little looksie into what has been going on in my art world lately. Seeing how it's been rather difficult for me to keep up on the happenings, I may skip around a bit. Let's see ....

 Oh, hey! Look! It's a photo of Nudge Collective's studio. I am not the best at using the panorama feature on my phone, but it'll do for now. It's such a great space (Canopy in Austin, TX), and I have enjoyed my time when I work there. It is quite a different experience working from your home and working in your own studio. I feel as if I get a whole lot more done without all the distractions that being at home can have. There's no, "Hm, I should clean this or rearrange that." or "I'm just going to read this for a few minutes and thennn I will get to work!" None of that. I am happy to be a part of this space. I feel productive and inspired by the wonderful women with whom I share it with.

I really wanted to share more about the book Neeka and I are working on, but I have decided that I want to save that for much later when we're closer to finishing. We are getting so incredibly close!

I have been working on some personal work as well. I have had a recent fascination with the idea of twins or mirror-like images and, of course, masks. The idea behind the masked or beaked creatures are usually an aesthetic of which to hide behind, or social anxiety, rather. In a way - well, in many ways - it is about me and my personal struggles and triumphs within (the piece in progress below would represent the struggle). The twins, however, are somewhat representational to the battle of certain aspects of myself. Alike, but subtly different. Dualities. For lack of better words, they are perhaps seeking a balance of my introverted self and a social/extraverted self. This may seem a bit cliché, but the drawings flow rather naturally and usually without the conscious intention to make such statements. As art usually does, it just happens, and you look inside yourself to see and make sense of why. I find myself doing this more and more than I used to. By doing this, I feel more at ease with myself and therefore, more infused with creative juices. I suppose you could say ... my cup runneth over?

The most recent twin piece that I finished felt more triumphant. The beaked creatures face one another. Eye-to-eye. Feathers afloat. Yet, still awkward and strange. Happily acknowledging the imperfections, as if to fly with them. Hence, the title, As A Bird.

As a Bird, Graphite and Ink, 2015

The more I have thought about my work, even the child-like illustrations have ties to the idea of the battle of living inwards and outwards. I feel that this is something most of us face and is nothing new, but it is important to the individual. It always is. Digging deeper inside of one's self is always important, and often times, we fight some sort of inner battle. No matter how common something is to think and feel, it is a part of the individual being. It is to experience life. That being said, one side is not necessarily better than the other. The anxiety will happen. Some good, some bad. To me, transcending that anxiety into art is the key. Sometimes, as an artist, you are giving yourself therapy without even knowing it. Or perhaps it is always that way and it is only sometimes that we are cognizant of it.

Whatever it is that I am trying to say on my little tangent here, I know that art places me in touch with concentrated doses of missing intrinsic qualities of self and mind. It sets and restores a balance. 

And there you have it. 

Good night, friends!