I thought I'd begin with a brief overview of my artist history. It's always good to locate ourselves in a context, don't you think?
Anyway, I've been creating and crafting things for as long as I can remember and always awestruck that people could make 2-dimensional images seem so real. I remember being envious of my elder sister by three years when she would come home from elementary school art class with a self-portait like I had never seen before: flat almond eyes, bowed pouty lips, toothpick neck and all. It was amazing and I couldn't wait for the opportunity to stretch my artistic wings, and once I started, I couldn't stop.
It was only at the age of eleven, however, that I discovered the power of observation. I was in a summer class (yes, for fun) and we drew only from life observation - a concept completely foriegn to me at this point. After drawing my hand in a variety of poses for the first time and having them look like real (albeit vaguely distorted) hands, I put myself to the task of perfecting my ability to accurately record my surroundings.
By the time I had graduated high school and moved on to college had succeeded in my efforts to a great extent, even winning a couple of awards from the local art center for my participation in their spring shows. (I recently turned in my application for this year's spring show after a couple years' hiatus, and the woman taking my form still recognized my name! It was weird and a little flattering.)
Into college, however, my art-making dropped off dramatically. I had become officially bored reproducing images that I found beautiful - for once I had succeeded in copying real life I had moved on to copying photos that attracted me, often from magazines for their crisp, clean lines and good lighting. It wasn't until my second year when I was studying abroad in northern England that I was made to push myself beyond empty imagery and discover a whole new meaning to my work.
This was also the year that I discovered the world through a gender and postmodern lens with the backdrop of a little sociological imagination - my entire worldview, in other words, shifted completely. Reality looked as it never had done before. This new reality would be far more interesting to "record", and that's what I've been doing ever since.
All the art I've included here is my own from mostly around the age of 16-18. The black and white images are predominantly graphite, the the last two incorporate charcoal for the darkest darks. Likewise, all the color images are done in color pencil. Their dimensions range from 9"x12" to 16"x20".
