mask project

So over the course of the winter break I had decided that I wanted to do a series then display it in a gallery. Sort of of one last hoorah of college. I've altered my ideas to five masks to which i hope to have in some kind of hospital or psychology department in my life. They were to begin with me not knowing about my dad's real situation, then changing to me hearing about my dad's situation, then dealing with it in an emotional sense, then locking it up inside with the last mask of inspiration. I've thought it through and it really sounds like the five stages of grieving. I like this idea with the masks being self portraits and the last - instead of acceptance being inspiration. I'm not sure how I'll deal with the last two masks but have a clear goal for the first three and am excited to see how the whole ordeal turns out!

Midlife crisis

My dragon is a dick. He's driving me insane. The more I think about it, though, I feel like I should've seen this coming. Because I wanted to portray my dad as a dragon/monster, Guillermo seems to be portraying a dragon/monster. As this was an issue I didn't want to bring up, the fact that it's not turning out how I had meant him to are seeming obvious. I wanted him to portray a beautiful broken creature that was corrupting himself as he corrupted the individuals around him but he's turning out to be a broken creepy creature that doesn't have fire yet. I suppose we'll just have to see how this turns out...

Artist Statement

When faced with the question, “Why do I create art?” I always
want to retort with, “Well, why do you breathe?” As cliché as that sounds, it
gets the point across. I create art for a multitude of reasons the biggest
being, because I have to.

I used to create art because I needed to get an emotion
out of my being, whether it was good or bad. I began writing songs when I was
little because I was bored and drawing because I missed my dad and felt closer
to him when I drew. When I was in junior high and high school I began playing
instruments in order to get the energy and enthusiasm I had towards my everyday
life. When I hit college it became apparent that I was building the skills I needed
to succeed in life through this thing called art.

I create works of art for others to experience an emotion
that they weren’t experiencing, or just to share my gift. I love to inhabit a
space with my work. To show the viewer their inner feelings that they didn’t
know they were experiencing. I do this most efficiently through the artwork
involving my dad.

This past year I’ve been involving my dad slowly into my
artwork and now am involving him into every project I do. He got in a car
accident before I was born leaving him with permanent brain damage. In summary
he lives in an Alzheimer’s unit in Lincoln, and doesn’t know Lauren Brown exists.
He used to be a well-known artist in Texas and can barely copy a coloring book
line drawing. He remembers up to six months before his accident and sadly I was
born a little over a year after it happened. Through my experiences of getting
to know this man, I have found emotions within myself deeper than anything else
I have felt. I like to create art that I think of while meeting him or feel
when I’m thinking about him because it brings the most passion and emotional
work I’ve ever created.

In summary I do art parallel to why I breathe. I do it
for myself; the skills I build and the emotions I expose. I do it for others to
share my gift and have other experience an emotion. Lastly I do it to remember
my dad, and share what he’s unintentionally taught me with the world.