our writing final was an artist statement. but i wasn't there when the assignment was given and the teacher never really explained it (or showed up for our scheduled appointment. or replied to any of the emails i sent), so i'm not sure if it's decent. or even fits the description of an artist statement. but yeah... here it is.







I’ve been indecisive my whole life. Strawberry or grape jelly? Barbies or Legos? When it comes to art, why should I be any different?

I’ve tried a variety of mediums and my favorite keeps changing. In eighth grade I loved drawing; in ninth and tenth grade painting was my passion; and in eleventh grade I was devoted to photography. Twelfth grade brought a variety of new experiences: I tried video and flash; expanded my familiarity with photography, drawing, and Photoshop; and worked on a larger scale in many mediums than previously.

I still haven’t discovered what I’m at this school for. I was planning to be a photo major, but I don’t know if I can spend the rest of my life doing that. I have so much trouble deciding what I want. All I really know is what I don’t want. I don’t want to be a fine arts major (I’m a really slow painter and drawer) and I don’t want my major to be anything with three dimensions (my brain has trouble thinking in more than two). I’ve been assuming that I wanted to be a photo major because photography is the only medium where I’ve been able to be completely engrossed in what I’m doing and loose track of time (literally hours). Yet, there’s nothing I intend to do with photography. I don’t want to work in advertising, journalism, documentation, or education.

My choice for photography also boils down to be never being one of the lucky individuals who could imagine something and then create it. I lack imagination and always have (even when I was a child). I don’t need to imagine to be a photographer. I just capture what I see.

I’ve always carried that over into the other mediums I’ve used. When I finally tried intaglio, I used a snapshot I had taken of my sister when we were hiking. I have a lot of fun creating drawings by starting with black paper and working with a white colored pencil. For those I have also used black and white pictures of my sister I’ve developed. The two drawings I’ve done in that style are more abstract than any of my other works (although they are far from actually being abstract). One of them I took while my sister was sleeping with her hair splayed everywhere (I kept poking her till she opened an eye) and an arm over her face. The other one I took directly beneath her while she was hanging upside down in a tree with a short focal length.

I suppose I’ve always gone for things a little on the odd side. Big surprise, huh? I’m sure the majority of the people at this school are like that. I like people to be in odd positions. I like places to be desolate. But I can never come up with a meaning behind any of my work. It’s just something that I think looks interesting—no hidden messages about how the government is evil, love the environment, or any of that jargon. My works also never have any meaning to me. Again, it’s just something I think looks interesting and will be fun to recreate. Who cares what I actually do with it; as long as I’m having fun.