2017 Senior Project

Artist Statement

This series of three diptych paintings celebrate the everyday people in my life, while examining how their minds are strengthened through creative or recreational acts. Creativity for me is the art of painting, but for the rest of my family it is not. In each portrait, a family member is depicted in the setting that evokes their creative thoughts and processes. These instances portrayed include: teaching in an elementary school, singing in the choir, and hunting in the woods. Paired with each portrait is an abstract expression of mental processes that occur while in their instance. Our mind is challenged by these instances that evoke creative thought, and the result of these challenges are the formation of new dendrites, brain’s communication channels. The more dendrites mean the more brain activity. Leaving no time for the mind to slow down and digress allows for a longer healthier life. Health benefits specifically include: the delayed onset of severe memory loss or disease; prevention of mental illness, such as depression; and healing from sickness or injury. At some point, each of these family members has been through their own battle with health, and each used their personal creative outlet to heal both physically or mentally. Broadening the definition of what is means to be creative while creating a connection between the different creative insights with my own, painting. In hopes to encourage more creative thought amongst people outside of the fine arts world to better improve their health.

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