Exercise one....port questions

Q: What work have you made that seems most yours? Why? A: I have done random acts of art and also my tangible abstract pieces seem most mine. They combine my love for hands on, relative, and creation with my free spirit and love for the social environment. Q: Who are artists that are making work that relates to you? Are there other influences? How are these other influences connected to your work? A: Tara Donovan and Richard Tuttle both have work that relates to me and my work and interests me. My environment and my history both influence my work. I am big on recycling, making the world a better place, and I grew up in rural Florida. I tend to repurpose or reuse everyday objects in my work. Some of my work is ocean based, Florida themed, or “Country” or folk. I work in a variety of mediums and styles. Q: “And while a hundred civilizations have prospered (sometimes for centuries) without computers or windmills or even the wheel, none have survived even a few generations without art.” Discuss in your own words why you think this is so. A: Because art is a form of communication. No matter if it is a cave painting carrying the message of how that group of people hunted bison or it’s a modern song explaining ones feelings that another person relates to. To survive you need air, food and water; to be happy you need to surround yourself with people you love and people who make you happy. Communication being a key factor in survival and happiness means more than material or scientific items or ideas of a specific time. Which relates to the saying “money cannot buy you happiness.” This also relates in nature, animals value their forms of communications to survive without relying on any materialistic advancement. Q: “Art is something you do out in the world, or something you do about the world, or even something you do for the world. The need to make art may not stem solely from the need to express who you are, but from need to complete a relationship with something outside of yourself.” Which of these ideas resonates most with you? Why? If they all resonate, how do they differ? A: My re-using and repurposing tangible things in my art are for the world. If I can recycle in my art I do. However I also am interested in public art, public performance art, and installations which is art that’s more in your face, out in the world. Q: “Making art depends upon noticing things-things about yourself, your methods, your subject matter.” What do you notice about yourself? What are your methods? Subject matter? The answers do not have to be limited to art related topics. A: I am free spirited, open to new things, and try anything once. My methods are explorations with happy accidents. I try new things all the time. I enjoy re-using or repurposing things in my art. I love nature and being outdoors and putting myself in that environment while doing my art is one of my main methods. My subject matter is endless with my great use of exploration but often reflects my love for nature. Q:”The only work really worth doing- the only work you can do convincingly- is work that focuses on things you care about.” “All this suggests a useful working approach to making art: notice the objects you notice.” What do you care about? The answers do not have to be limited to art related topics. A: I care about being happy and living life to its fullest. This shows in my work. I am expressive of my feelings in everything I do. I enjoy doing random art that may seem to lack focus but always has a sense of exploration, of freedom, and performance.