Artist statement:

I don’t like artist statements.

I think that the creation of art is so autobiographical that the finalized art or product has either served

its purpose through the creative process or finds its purpose through the viewer’s exploration and

interaction with it. The act of making is the language, the medium is the tool or vocabulary available,

and the product is the final artist statement.

Whether the viewer likes, understands, and or accepts that statement in the form provided or

experienced is a different story. That’s what the artist statement feels like to me. It’s the artist/maker

asking to be accepted and understood. It’s a way of trying to add value to something priceless because

art is communication. Also artist statements feel like the first lie I learned to tell in art school. (if you B.S

you can get a BS you can get a BA. The second lie was that i only got into the school because I’m black).

Since my art is autobiographical I’ll tell you a bit about me.

-I don’t think there is a difference between art, craft, or kitsch (creating jewelry feels like an extension of

what I put on canvas)

-I love masks and jewelry from around the world. I think these objects are consistently interesting and

tell you so much about how people like to be perceived and sometimes not perceived. (you will see

many accessories and fashion influences in my work)

-I was raised on anime and martial arts movies (I still call them kung fu movies)

-I’m obsessed with framing, picture frames, movie shot frames, and just how content changes

depending on context (many of my drawings play with framing inside of the picture plane)

-I hate the idea of making art universal (It devalues personal experience and plays on the idea that

people are too dumb to like or understand art without explanation or association to the global minority)

-Also patterns…are amazing (crazy how endless they are)

-shadows and how light disperses is also a thing for me if you catch me staring im taking mental pictures

of (oh that’s how something like that would move or drape)

-words also inform my work. I am very influenced by words and the thoughts they carry that I actually

write more ideas than I visually produce.

Ebony Robinson