“A sketchbook is like a diary; even if there are no words at all, time and situation are glued to every line. Although the intention of the artist may not be to keep a journal, unintentionally a sketchbook becomes one,” as said by German artist Wayne Horse. I present a diary to a public through a visual narrative. The images are made up of imaginary characters and environments, but are based on the narrative of daily life events that one might find in a diary. Some of my characters come from teen culture magazines or children’s books. It is evident there is a narrative in my work, but it’s not necessarily accessible to the viewer, it is coded and keeps the privacy of a diary while being out in plain view. Many diaries and sketch books have been coded. Leonardo da Vinci used his signature mirror writing. It perpetuates the idea of them being mysterious and private. My images have a sense of humor, but it's not direct, so the viewer isn't always completely aware of it. It shows the world we live in a truthful, but expressive and hidden way.
The array of mediums I use, consist of ballpoint pen, inks, markers, acrylic paint, and colored pencil. The primary materials are my ballpoint pen and marker, usually BIC, but whatever’s most accessible and reliable. They are generally associated with doodles, sketch books, and personal writings to others because of their accessibility. Each material helps suggests a different line, certain ones jump out and others fade to the back, and the way they are set up guides the viewer through the piece. The styles displayed come from traditional representation, the surrealist's stream of thought, cartoon illustration, and street graffiti. They portray a representational, but very expressionistic or exaggerated feeling. The different styles help show different times or moods of a character. The images coexist within the parameter of the piece to indicate both movement and entropy.
I am primarily influenced by the regular things people go through, whether it's finding roaches in your apartment, asking a girl on a date, or just feeling like a robot at work. It's the casualness of privacy in a conversation with close friends. The things talked about in those conversations and the way they're talked about interests me. Having a sketchbook to write in every day is important. As well as looking through friends and other people and artists’ diaries and sketch books. I love hearing stories and it's what I like to show in my work. I've learned a lot by seeing art by other important artists like Raymond Pettibon and how he uses his line, Saul Steinberg and how he combines different styles, and how Paul Carrington brings his imagination into his work. I'm interested in the way they handle their mediums and how they handle certain styles in art. Children's books are another source I like as references. Especially, "Where the Wild Things Are" and all the Dr. Seuss books. The stories tell a narrative story, but usually there are deep underlying messages throughout telling the true story. The stories are so imaginative, unique, and fun, but at the same time based on morals and ideas that are so common. There is a very casual seriousness.
I would like the work presented so each piece is able to be viewed individually, although the pieces do need to be shown together. Together they form a collection and work off of each other. The scale is small so it invites the viewer into its space. The small scale keeps the feeling of a sketch in the narrative. The paper the pieces are done on is cut irregularly or done on various papers, accepting the mistakes and gives the feeling of scraps or old ideas gathered together. There is no chronologic order to the pieces. They are mainly drawn from everyday events that don’t have any true bearing to the following situation. Each small event is important and should be celebrated, but at the same time won’t always lead to an event that happens later on. A diary has a timeline by the accumulation of pages. As you flip through the pages you flip through the time. I present my work over top of other elements. First there is a blank wall, then someone graffiti’s it, which is later painted over again and repeated. This presents time on a two-dimensional surface. I present my pieces on top of this surface placing my pieces in a period of time.
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