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Sarah Meder |
Artist Statement I cannot help but feel that asking an artist to write a statement about his or her work, is like asking the organ grinder's monkey to perform. The problem then becomes, writing a truthful artist's statement, which has plagued me in the past. Now that my feelings are out in the open, perhaps now I can. My Grandfather was a butcher and my father grew up working side by side with him at the butcher shop. It was my father who taught me how to pick out a good piece of meat for my dinner. My appreciation for meat began with the taste of a good piece of meat. Later an appreciation for the beauty of the meat it self took flight in my painting. When I think of flowers, I think of my Auntie Wanda sitting in her back yard surrounded by flowers. When I think of my love of pattern, I think of old tablecloths belonging to my Mom and Omie. The tablecloths bring back many memories and sparked my love of pattern. When I think of my childhood, I think of laughter and I remember my brothers' rubber chickens. This is my history, where I come from and it speaks volumes to my work on a daily basis. These images in my paintings represent meanings that change on a constant basis, determined by how they interact with other images in the paintings. Sometimes the rubber chicken is just funny, sometimes it is serious in it's representation of Jesus, and sometimes it is a funny representation of Jesus. I wish I were the type of artist that artist statements are meant for. The artist whose paintings would be less without the statement. Today that is what is demanded of me; images of my work and a statement explaining my work for you and the viewer. However, I feel I am the opposite. I am the artist who feels having a statement hinders the painting by blocking the viewer's own thoughts. I do not want to hold the viewers hands as they walk through the painting and I do not want to tell them what to see in the painting. I am the artist that goes blindly into creativity and approaches her canvas with faith, listening to the painting tell me what it needs. Knowing the viewer is the ultimate end to the painting. |