What a year 2016!

So, going into the new year, I had decided to make 2016 a year of experiments. I didn't have any shows planned which allowed me to get into making things I wouldn't normally. Playing with narratives, indulging in surrealism, and getting back to basics... possibly?

It was definitely difficult at first; pushing yourself to think differently. As human beings we kind of are creatures of habit (another very animal like tendency of ours). We like our routines. But no one ever told you in art school how everyone, and I mean everyone, eventually hits a spot where they find it difficult to make anything. And it's not because of lack of direction or lack of inspiration - no. If I may speak for all artists, I believe, we all are teeming, spilling over our own brains with ideas, needs, fidgeting with movement. So, it never stems from a lack of inspiration... but maybe a fear of failing. And that's what I had hit. What if my ideas were dumb?

I've always found folktales fascinating. how did we develop these stories? Why do we still tell them today if we don't find or see ourselves within these narratives? Are these the similarities as true animals we see in our personalities. Tales over time turn into folktales, so who's to say they aren't true? 

Goes back to our survival instinct to not fail. But isn't it out of our failure that we learn and find something new? Maybe something great? 

Cheers to Happy Mistakes. 

Niko & I working on my first ever large assemblage piece.