Artist Statement
I recently had reason to write an artist statement, which was something I hadn’t done in a number of years. I found the process to be greatly useful in that it gave me a chance to put into words a number of ideas and perspectives that have been bonking around in my head for a while.
It felt good to get these ideas out of my mental computer and organize them so they might be communicated to others. It also allowed me an opportunity to polish and clarify concepts that were yet ambiguous to myself.
For someone who is always creating artwork, taking a chance to pause and reflect on why I do what I do was a worthwhile exercise. I hope you enjoy.
In the MET museum in Manhattan, there is a mask created by the Haida people of British Columbia called “Sea Bear Mask”. In my freshman year at Pratt Institute, my friend and I would go to the museum and look at this piece with awe. How could it be that something constructed from physical elements felt so alive? How could an inanimate object appear so possessed of tangible spirit? The longer we engaged, the more the piece revealed.
As I grew as an artist and human, I continued to wonder what made the Sea Bear Mask so compelling. The piece was created by a people whose culture is centered around a deep reverence and respect for nature, which they included themselves as a part of. The mask isn’t simply a piece of costume, it is a ceremonial object with intrinsic power that allows its wearer to embody the spirit of the animal.
In general, western culture operates under a stark distinction between the worlds of nature and civilization. It is this culturally generated division which permits us to commit all kinds of unethical actions against the environment. Separated from the gestalt of creation, we experience alienation & our species’ self-perception becomes bifurcated; either we are supreme creatures in the hierarchy of life, entitled to take what we will, or we are flawed beings destined for war, discord, misery, and to use religious terminology, sin.
This apparent separation of humans and nature exists only in our perception. In truth, there has never been a moment when we have not been intimately connected to all other life on this planet. The following quote from herbalist and poet Stephen Buhner summarizes this modern predicament succinctly:
“The ecological devastation of our interior worlds precedes that of the natural world”.
My artwork is both an expression of my reverence for the natural world, as well as a tool for me to discover my place in it.
In my experience of much modern art, I feel that a wall is created between the artist and the viewer. Often this barrier is conceptual, requiring the viewer to possess specific information to understand the work. Those who lack a privileged education or exposure to this artistic language are left unmoored, wondering what to make of the art.
This type of work has classist and racist undertones, in that it creates an exclusivity in who may experience it fully. If the work is only meant to be understood by select members of society, in my personal standards, that artwork is unsuccessful and unkind.
The pieces I create are visual reflections of my explorations; my goal is to communicate in a universal language. The figurative forms that appear in my art are influenced by plants, animals, my dreams, and folklore and myth. These themes arise through an intuitive self-expression.
As an artist, one of the primary intentions I have for my work is that it be accessible on a personal level. This has led me to create things like jewelry and children’s books. Both of these are examples of artwork that allow for direct engagement and accessibility on a personal level. The necklace or bedtime story is given a new purpose by a person’s participation with it. In this way, the artwork itself begins to live its own life.
The pendulum swing of humanity’s journey has taken many of us far away from nature. I am thankful for so much that this modern world provides, but find an inescapable need to feel a part of a warm night's breeze, or witness the exuberant blossoming of flowers on a hillside. These experiences seem to me a direct antidote to the corrosive patterns and machinations that dominate our everyday lives.
I know this is a feeling shared by many, especially these days. With my art, I’ll continue to proclaim my affection for all of the magnificent life that exists in this world.
Shea Bartel
