My Philosophy

Before creating anything, whether it be design work or paintings, there exists a philosophy that acts as the lifeblood and primary foundation of these creations. My belief is that all great art and design actualizes, through evocation and execution, truths to be perceived and realized. Below are my statements for both art and design that expound upon this for each.

Design

In creating designs, my intention is to make the design functional in both utility and in interpretation both on a conscious and subconscious level. This is achieved through content (clear information to be conveyed and what we consciously interpret) and how the content is laid out and presented (formalistic qualities that can evoke and deliver messages subconsciously). These are the two aspects that I find to be reoccurring fully in all the successful designs that I study, and as such that I hope to implement correctly in my work. The “utility” of design extends far beyond it’s literal utility of a tangible and measurable end goal; it also encompasses emotional utility. If done well, a design should create a space for the user’s conscious to occupy, and all factors that go into what the user perceives should be accounted for.

Art

Through my artwork, I explore the deeper reaches of my psyche to understand the truths that are core to my inner self. I hope to pierce the ego and to rouse the inner self through visually intense and grotesque imagery, often debaucherous and violent in nature. This imagery is primarily occupied by the presence of mask-wearing humans and imp-like creatures. These creatures, to me, are all present within the unconscious, only to be realized through the suppression of the ego. For me, these creatures are not to be combatted or addressed morally, as they are not evil, or good for that matter, as such a labeling is to act within the ego-conscious. By viewing the work and allowing its implications and forces to invade the psyche, to have the gazes of these creatures permeate the conscious, it is my hope that it will evoke a deeper response that is true to the individual so that they too may reflect on their internal truths. In this sense, I regard my art as foundational and conceptually very simple. 

To more finely describe my motive for making art in a sociocultural context, I will add the following. I firmly believe that one of the greatest evils that pervades humanity is the suppression of the self and redirecting self-worth and the very construct of the self to that of an external sociocultural-context. In other words, we are being conditioned to believe that our value as an individual human being is dependent on forces outside of us, mainly being traditionalism and obligatory behavior to a culture. Neither of these are inherently bad, rather the evil lies in how they’ve conditioned us to suppress, passively, the true inner self in favor of the topical and cultural reassurance and gratification that we receive in return. Throughout my life up until my early twenties, I was a product of this. Painting has allowed me to free this confine within myself, and as such has allowed me to confidently identify and evoke my inner self. Thus it is my lifelong journey as a human and as an artist to dig deeper and deeper, realizing further and hopefully allowing others to identify and critique the ego that they’ve been conditioned to accept, and to realize and discover the truths of their inner self.