3/4/10: Idea #6: Artist Statement

The mere idea of writing an artist statement brings me anxiety. You have to find a really concise way to explain what you are doing that, A) Explains your concept, B) Is mildly intelligent and C) Isn't too short or too long.... Yeah. 

Last Semesters artist statement:

In general, my work focuses on different aspects of my personal identity, whether racial, sexual or gender.   This body of work focuses specifically on my experience and critique of being multi-racial, more specifically as “mulatto”. I do not feel as if I am drawn to any particular culture and am interested what expectations are placed on being culturally black or white. There are social pressures to choose a side when one is multi-racial. To explore what biracialism means to me, I explore performance art, still photography and the ideas of racial binaries and images in sequence.

I began realizing a while ago that it was more than just self portraiture or self identity that I was interested in. My work ties together but I don't feel as if my older artist statement really grasps where I am going with everything. The statement is relevant because everything stated is true and affects how I function daily, but is missing something. I think the lightbulb sort of turned on when I started talking with Tom and my peers about this idea of othering. I don't want to get too technical in my artist statement because I don't want to lose any of my audience that may not be familiar with the research. 

Othering

I have come to the realization that the parts of my identity that I take pride and comfort in set me apart from what is considered normal and acceptable in our society. I never really felt as if I was part of any particular culture and would rather stay neutral and be different. In the simplest of terms, the "other" is one who is different. People are often dehumanized in situations where certain aspects of their identity are not the majority and are seen as opposite or even inferior. Society puts these pressures on minority groups and further marginalizes them day by day. I am interested in who these "others" are and how discrimination affects their lives. 

I feel like I have come a long way from last semester. I feel more comfortable with explaining my concept. I am interested to present at midterm critique because Tom records our "performances". I think its important as an artist to be able to speak to your audience clearly and be aware of your actions. I have a feeling that it will be odd watching the video afterwards but look forward to it.