Artist's Statement:

 

               This painting, entitled “Body on Earth, Mind in the Stars”, is a way for me to expresses my personal philosophy and do something that is meaningful to me. I created this through expressing my opinion on how we tend to treat the environment today. For me this painting represents freedom of thought and the ability we are given to do either good or bad with our liberty. The environmental side of this painting evokes a sort of self destruction and disrespect towards the way we treat the environment, I believe that everything is heavily connected and that all living and nonliving things are in someway dependent on each other. Humans should not be given more rights and their interests should not be held to a higher value than of the other things in our environment. Sometimes it is thought that if something that we disregard doesn't instantly, directly affect us it won't later on. But I believe that all of the harm we have done to the environment will eventually catch up to us, even if technology can save human existence the prices we will have to pay will be much greater. This painting doesn’t directly express but was inspired by what I've seen and experienced around the world and what I have seen the fact that in the U.S. were still fighting about whether or not this self destruction even exists while in other places it's not even questioned. The freedom we are given comes with some responsibility, we should strive to be the best we can be. For me this is something that is worth expressing and something I believe is worthy for others to be inspired by.

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Reflection: 

                 Some of the new insights I developed over the course of this project were being able to think deeply about human existence, purpose and how it affects my life. Reading texts like Aristotle’s Eudaimonia and the Stranger helped me realize that there could possible be no meaning to our existence however this should be an excuse not to live to the fullest extent. I learned that sometimes it is necessary to have struggle to appreciate and fulfill happiness to the fullest extent. One reading that help me think deeply about human existence was  A Tale For The Time Being  by Ruth Ozeki, this book brought to light many of the struggles that we face in today's world such as purpose, truth and overall reason for living. Through the concept of a time being characters discover themselves and how they fit into this crazy world of ours. I realized that the impermanence of life is just a reason to live it the best you can not an excuse to limit yourself. Throughout some of these readings I recognized some of the struggles I have been through and how they have affected my life. I was able to put my environmental ethic into this project though my art piece, by creating something I found to be meaningful art. Art is a way for me to express my philosophies and opinions in a way that can be meaningful to others, making it meaningful to me. Through this artistic process I discovered how the people and environment around me influence me so much. 

 

Personal Philosophy Statement:

 

            Going abroad was one of the most influential experiences of my life and dramatically shaped my personal philosophy as it allowed me to see more clearly the things I most value. I don’t believe I can understand the world until I’ve seen all of it. At times I feel cooped up because of the inability to see and understand everything. Looking at myself from the beginning to the end I can see a clear difference in my level of maturity and overall growth, how I have learned to understand the things I thought negatively of. And how the struggles can be added for a richer more meaningful experience. I can now see that all of my beliefs and values were inside of me it just took the right experience to bring them out. Although I strongly believe that meaning and happiness should be defined by the individual some key ideas that have helped me shape my truths of existence are the ability to accept struggle, and finding a purpose through the opportunities/abilities I am given. And how these ideas will help me use my passion to invoke the and improve the things I value most in my life.

 

             Throughout my life I’ve found that when something is taken away from you it makes you want it more. Abroad I learned to appreciate the things I didn’t have and understand how to be grateful for my opportunities. Aristotle’s Eudaimonia states that “the greater good requires some sort of sacrifice… short term pleasure will lead to longer term pain.” Throughout my experiences I have realized the truth in this, how the sacrifice and struggle at the beginning made the end feel even better. Aristotle’s also states, “It is unquestionably better to enjoy the floating than to swim in uncertainty.” Going against easy short term pleasures can be difficult, struggle and stress for long term happiness can seem like it's putting you at risk for failure. It has always been important to me to be open to failure, even though the comfort in easy success. I would like to tell myself that for me a life well lived is living a life with risk and challenge rather than comfort and security, but really it’s about finding a balance between to two. I do know that I learn the most when I am put in hard situations. When I look back on my life I would like to think about all of the times I put myself out there and succeeded rather the times I didn’t go for it and didn’t even give myself a chance. In   “A Tale For A Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki as the protagonist, Nao, writes, “...and sometimes I even discover that I can love the things I think I hate” (386). This expresses how leaving behind my life and almost all of the aspects of it (friends, family, school, language) made me appreciate and love them more than I thought I could, even the little things I thought I could never learn to love. For example:

 

             When you are doing something interactive you are creating a sense of purpose for yourself, whether that task is it  big or small;  it can make you feel as though you are not thinking about the past or the future but only the moment you are living in. it’s important to live in the present, prepare for the future and reflect on the past. I am still trying to decide what sacrifices I should make in order to follow my passion. The effect of the choices I make about my future define my future and what I will do in it. Not all the choices I make will be good but at least I will learn something from each of my experiences. Although I do not believe I have been given a purpose from another being. I believe that the sense that faith gives people can be very powerful and something else can be lost when the hope of believing is gone. Personally creating gives me a feeling of purpose of and a way to work towards mastering something. It gives me a way to bring my passion with me no matter where I go. Maybe instead of trying to follow my passion I just need to bring it with me and create my own path. My meaning could simply just the ability that I have the freedom to make so many decisions. On using the opportunities you are given Aristotle’s Eudaimonia states “a man must choose a path which will let his abilities function at maximum efficiency toward the gratification of his desires.” Therefore it is important for me to seek to develop my artistic abilities to the fullest extent.

 

              A way for me to use my passion to feel as though I am impacting and influencing someone or something, would be through art. People often feel disconnected from problems and as though they can’t make a difference even though they easily can, the issue can seem too big. Just throwing information and facts at people can be overwhelming and does not always invoke actions to be taken. For me art is a way to bridge this gap by being factual and inspirational, it can change perspectives and create unfound emotions in a very beautiful way. I believe my responsibility as an artist is to give people a feeling that they can change. I don’t plan just to inspire people my whole life one day I hope I can actively change something using my creative mindset, but for me this is a good place to start. Creating something beautiful can make me happy but creating something meaningful can give my life purpose.  

              Even if my life has no planned out meaning this just gives me the freedom to do what I want with it. Nobody owns knowledge; each person must define right and wrong for themselves. Once time is gone it doesn't return again so what you do with it can only be held to the highest standards you value. I have found that finding an equilibrium is essential to me and my quest for a life lived to the fullest whether that is a balance between, happiness and meaningfulness, pleasure and struggle, security and risk, knowing and not knowing. And between creating art that challenges and criticizes the bad in the world while allowing there to still be hope and making it the best it can be.