New Stuff

Top to bottom: The fire within, sun on water, The lido deck,Tahitian Blue, I summon my aura.

Making a Statement

How does one write an artist statement? I don't really know. In keeping with my new year's goals I have decided to be more proactive about getting my art out there and part of that is having a statement. So I did some online research, read a lot of other people's statements and talked to friends, but the whole thing made me feel like a bit of a fraud.Once again I feel like I'm coming up against the mental barrier I have about who real artists are and what they know. To me a real artist is someone like Perren. He went to school for it...studied art history and technique. He knows what different brushes are called and how to keep oil paints from destroying everything (mineral spirits!). I just know what colors I like and how if you add salt to cacti, it makes them look bumpy. I don't even really know what style category my paintings would be under...though my guess after lots of using the google is that I might be an abstract expressionist (?). Right, this whole process has been not only intimidating, but untrue to my art.

When I first moved to Japan, I met mindtraining. She was also from WI and though at one point we had actually at one point attended the same high school, we didn't meet until Tokyo. She ended up being stationed about an hour away from me in a slightly bigger town halfway to Osaka. I began to spend weekends at her sparsly furnished place. She had 1 futon, 2 Tibetan prayer mats, a lamp, a radio, a rice cooker and a lot of art supplies. So as she was making the rice and some amazing veggie curry, I would sit on the mat and just make stuff. It wasn't technical. I wasn't trying to imitate anyone else's style or to convey some deep and meaningful politcal message. I simply liked to make pretty pictures. It was cathartic. After spending the majority of my days teaching or just trying to figure out what the hell was going on between all the unspoken subtle nuances in Japanese society, it was peaceful and healing to simply sit and commune with myself.

That's all it ever was, just something fun and relaxing...the opportunity to make something beautiful. I started using canvas because I am notoriously hard on everything I own and my paper creations were getting ripped and falling apart. So how do I say that and still sound like a serious artist? Well this is what I have so far. Editorial feedback is welcome.



Bio:
The Afro-feminist Samurai grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. As soon as she was able to legally do so, she moved away. Her first stop was Seattle, which has become the home base for her many travels. Afro is an international educator and has spent several years abroad, living in Japan, Chile, and Spain. Her experiences abroad have been a catalyst for her work and are also reflected in her style, use of materials, and choice of subject matter. She is a self taught painter. She first began painting, not to sell or even for the purpose of sharing with others, but as a meditation. Her portfolio to date consists of a variety of themed works such as cityscapes, butterflies, self portraits, Day of the Dead scenes, and landscapes, done on canvas with acrylic and mixed media.


Artist Statement:
I paint because I love it. My paintings are vibrant abstract self portraits, done on canvas with multi-media. I first began painting and creating collages during the two years I spent living and teaching in Japan. It was a time when I was often frustrated by my inability to communicate. My art became both a refuge and a venue for self expression and at times I was able to use it as point of connection between me and my coworkers. I find creating art to be both healing, and deeply powerful.

Though I began by making greeting cards and multi-media paper collages, I have since transitioned into working on canvas because it is infinitely more durable. I especially enjoy playing with textures and using bright colors and glitter. My paintings are eye candy; fun and interesting, sometimes thought provoking, or sometimes simply beautiful. They are a reflection of who I am, how I feel, where I’ve been, and where I’m headed. My cityscapes and butterflies are just as much self-portraits as my afro sporting women.

Shows:
January 3, 2009. C.A.R.A. – Communities Against Rape and Abuse fundraiser. The Hidmo. Seattle, WA

November 7, 2008. Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead show. Phinney Center Gallery. Seattle, WA.

July 2, 2008. Wallingford First Wednesdays. Alliance Chiropractic. Seattle, WA.

A new year= A new theme

I'm kind of a sucker for resolutions. To me, birthdays and new years always bring with them a sense of well being, because in them there is a natural new beginning. Even though today is just like yesterday, the calendar says it's special. It's like getting a fortune cookie that says today is your free pass...forget your mistakes and start over. Perhaps that's why I have been frustrated. My new year went well enough, but I was too hung over to properly do any goal setting and by the time I recovered, I had slipped into a lethargic reflection time, no good for doing anything but wondering once more what they hell I'm supposed to be doing with my life.

Then the inauguration happened and I felt a sudden reprieve, because even though new year's day had come and gone, it was still a new day for my country. Like many others, I felt energized and inspired to go for something bigger...so that is what my theme is for the year...continued personal growth and the expansion of my opportunities.

This is no dress rehearsal, this is my life and I want to live it joyfully, always trying new things, and unafraid of failure. I want to belly dance and swing from a trapeze. I want to lose 30lbs before I test for my black belt. I want to be a better teacher, make more money and go abroad for my 30th b-day. I want to see something amazing and breathtaking like the grand canyon or the Taj Majal. I want to meet someone worth dating long term (and actually date him long term).This year I want to accomplish big things like finally finishing my novel and illustrating my children's book. I want to show my paintings in different venues. These are my goals, but my intention is simple. This year I intend to live in the light...to be my best self.

Tomorrow Morning

Though it's January and everything is supposed to be sparkly and new, mars is in retrograde...which for me means that I am traveling backwards in my mind, repeating the same patterns, traversing that familiar 18 inch path from head to heart and back through every decision I have made this year and through every event or moment that has made me. Who am I now, who have I been, who will I be? And what do I want? Today is the first MLK Day in years where instead of going to a march or participating in community service, I took some me time. Mz. Blu and I went out for pancakes then walked the longest possible route around greenlake laughing at the little dogs in costume and trying not to get run over by those crazy fitness moms running with strollers. It was a sunny day in Seattle, filled with that sense that everything is possible.

When I look back at 2008, this has proved to be true for me. I might just be living my version of the American dream. Despite the recession, I have a new job that I love, a new and improved living space, and several new and wonderful people gracing my life. I have been renewed in my faith and my spiritual practices and inspired to create beautiful works of art. And moreover, there is a new energy not just in my life or my immediate neighborhood, but in my country. Tomorrow, a change is gonna come...and not just in that far off distant ideal tomorrow that never seems to materialize, but actually on Jan 20...tomorrow, I get to be a witness, a participant in a moment in history that will change the face of this nation.

As I sit here, I know somewhere in AZ, my mom is racking her brain to think of what she will say tomorrow when she appears on the Today show to talk about the inauguration. I don't know if this will help you at all, but this is what I would say:

In general it is not easy to be an American. This is a strange nation built on the premise of freedom and the reality of oppression and exploitation. We are a nation of voluntary and involuntary multi-linguel, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural immigrants who have spent the majority of our time at war with one another, if not officially and with weapon and legislation, then covertly with discrimination and subtle degrees of injustice. We are constantly struggling for the dream, for the ideal, to make this place called here and now into what America is supposed to be, a place of freedom, liberty, and peace and most of the time we fail miserably. Then we try and fail again.It is not easy, especially as a black American, to see the trail of dead bodies that litter our history and know that this country, my country, is founded, literally steeped in the blood of people who look like me. The systemic oppression, exploitation, and condemnation of people of color is nothing new or unknown, but we must remember it today and tomorrow especially because without acknowledging all that has come before today and tomorrow would not be as significant.

I feel that it is important to bring up our history because without it, tomorrow would just seem like another day, but it's not just another day. It is a day of deep symbolic importance, it is a day of proof, not only that change can and will come, but that after all this time America is ready to let us in. Please don't misunderstand, I am not under any delusions about the state of this nation. We still have so far left to go, racism still exist and there are still so many problems left to solve, but I finally feel like we are really on the journey, that my citizenship is real, not some false promise, not some intangible ideal. When Barack Obama becomes our president, not only do we say goodbye to 8 miserable years of Bush, but we welcome an era where people of color can actually be president. Words simply fail to express how momentous this occasion really is. I grew up with parents who always told me that I could be or do anything I wanted, but now that might actually be true. It seems like some boundary inside of me is breaking, it feels like anything is possible.That is what tomorrow means to me...