Artist Statement

An artist’s life must be inseparable from his art; the two must be components of one whole. It is the most important condition for anyone who takes upon themselves the title of being an artist. Art influences life, changes it, prompts the artist to evolve and grow. Life infuses art with energy and emotion, there is no other substitute for it, only expression of true life experiences can ever make great art, anything else is a lousy imitation, or just practice.

Throughout my life I have been looking for the answers to all of the big questions that people wish to answer but never actually think they can. If you think of a question that is considered too big for the human mind to answer, I am probably trying to solve it. Life is full of secrets and hidden details, all of which contribute to these illusive answers. My reasoning to searching for these answers is very simple; I am just not satisfied with anything else. I find art to be the perfect tool to assist this quest of mine, it often reflects me in ways I could never see myself. It brings me to realizations of my character and the bigger issues in life, the ones that always seem to be confusing are always presented as simple axioms in art.

The pieces of work that truly represent my art always evolve from a long process of thinking and evaluating that takes place in my mind. I often spend weeks on certain issues that are partly abstract and partly concrete, searching for answers and understanding beyond that which is commonly accepted. This process evolves in to an image in my mind; it becomes a personal metaphor of the entire process. As the image is transferred to a physical form of representation, suddenly it speaks to me, completing the process of thought and finalizing my conclusions. The painting is able to present grand ideas side by side, simplify them and enable me to see a picture bigger then my mind was able to comprehend before.

Every artist is influenced by many things; art becomes a collection of various influences, personal experiences, and an individual style. My art is influenced by many things, computer games, movies, cartoons, and other artists. Each computer game is developed with the help of many artists who draw and design everything that happens in the game. These artists produce incredible work that I like and draw inspiration from, my main interest in this kind of art is technical, I like the skill and techniques used in the pieces. Each game contains a story, an entire reality that is skillfully designed to illustrate a specific concept. I am often very impressed with such stories and the designs that are created for them, artists create realms that are not our own, they are fantasy and are simply for the enjoyment of the viewer.
 
The movies I watch are full of special effects that are usually created on the computer. They also deal with stories and legends of fantastical beings and characters that are more able then ordinary people. These heroes represent the strength and ability of humans to resist the grand forces of nature and higher beings. I draw inspiration from such stories for art and life. When I paint strong characters, heroes, warriors, I feel like I represent my own strength and desire through characters that are not human and as such have no human weaknesses.

My attraction to fantasy and mythology comes from a philosophical understanding of truth. In my recent philosophy course I have discovered one of Nietzsche’s writings about truth. He speaks of the way we see reality, our eyes are the receptors of light, which bounces off of objects. These receptors transform light to electrical signals that pass through the optical nerve and to the brain, in it the signals are interpret and presented as an image. That image is how we see the world; it is evident that what we see is the result of metaphors upon metaphors of our own biased concepts. When artists present their art, it is shown as a work of fiction, something which is not reality, it simply is a metaphor of the artist’s mind and does not attempt to be reality. When I create my works with the help of fantasy and mythology I feel that I am closer to truth then when I simply imitate or even protest reality. In a painting that uses fantasy to create an unreal world for the sole purpose of illustrating a certain concept of my mind, I feel that I have created something that is separate of this world, it is better and purer, and provides me with a recluse to retire in to and relax.
My art is a reflection of my life-philosophy, as I grow and evolve so does my art. It represents my desires and fears, the questions I ask and the answers I find. Most of the images and paintings that I consider to be important pieces of my work present struggles and battles, or warriors in time of piece and rest. In life, I feel like I am fighting against many obstacles that stand against me, some of them turn out to be my friends while others remain enemies that I overcome. My ultimate goal is to find happiness, which is exactly what everyone else wants in this world.