Reflecting on what I truly desire to communicate through my art, I had the epiphany to unearth reference photos I took of a former Joffrey Ballet dancer some years ago. I want all of my art to be based on my own personal vision, whether from live models or from photographs like this one, not polished perfect images by someone else. There was a time I would look at a reference like this and think, “her foot looks awkward,” “her hair covers her face,” or, “it's blurry,” and reject it as a subject worthy of painting. That thought process would ultimately spiral down into “I'm not good enough.”
Now I realize that something like this could truly embody my artist statement: “A recurring theme in my work is the universal idea of moving from darkness into light expressed through the human form, especially the dancer. My art explores the transcendence of the physical into the non-material, and movement as spiritual expression. My intention is to resonate with others and inspire release from dark emotions through my art.”
I have learned to accept ... and own...my perfect imperfections.
These photographs...about 100 of them... were taken with a 35mm film camera, so I had to gather up the negatives and send them off to be digitized. The flash drive with the files just arrived a few days ago, and looking through them, I became very excited about possibilities for a series of paintings and drawings. Stay tuned.