Art is everything we hoped life would be a lot of times

While applying for a bunch of art shows and gallery spaces recently, I found myself having to make many biographies. As well as being exhausting. I also found it hard to describe myself and my art.  

I found myself looking at other peoples biographies just to get an idea of how to write one myself. Tho' that only made it more complicated because I found myself unconsciously patterning mine after something I read instead of letting it flow naturally. I then tried reading some of the many comments people have left me over the years. And tho' I liked one persons description in which they described my style as fluid and organic! it wouldn't be me describing myself now would it. 

I'll tell you its' hard summing up ones self and art sometimes. Mostly because for me growing up I always heard if you have to describe your work then it probably isn't very good. So I always hoped people could understand what it was my art was saying with out me telling them. But I'm pretty sure most of the time they aren't, lol. And I'm ok with that. I am older now and don't believe describing ones art makes it any less good. I think if anything it's more necessary now that I've started working more with computers and photography. Also I think most of the time mixed media art or computer art isn't respected as much as paintings or drawings. Which is weird because it take me just as much time if not more to create something because of all the different layers I use. 

Example: This is a new piece I made. To most onlookers it may just look like a cute or cool photo. But it's actually very layered both in the process and it's meaning. 

A few months ago I started a new series of art based on my childhood. Growing up I was often left to my own devices. I wasn't chaperoned by any adults 95% of the time. I was a kid left to roam the city at will. And I did just that! I often just walked around looking for stuff to do. I remember one summer I spent almost every day at the Jefferson market library. That's the library in the background of the photo you see up there ^^ I was around 10yrs old at the time. Was actually a fun summer, I showed up on the weekends for free acting classes. I was the only kid in the whole class. It was suppose to be for adults I think, but no one ever asked me to leave. I learned about improv and how to read from a script. Was a lot of fun.  So you see when making the piece I choose to shoot a picture of the Jefferson market library not because it looks cool but because it carries a deeper significance for me. In the new series you will also see Blythe dolls and their bear friends in the pictures. In the piece you see up there ^^ The doll in the picture happens to be one I made, and she is wearing a coat and headphones I made. She is meant to the me that once was me. And every kid who was or still is left on their own to wonder where ever it is they go.  I often include teddy bears in most of the scenes. The bears are acting as chaperones to these wondering kids. Most of the time looking back at the viewer letting you know they see you. 
The process of being able to put the dolls in these pictures is interesting. I take separate pictures of the dolls, Usually about 50 to 100 photos. They are mostly dolls I either made or had made for me. Sometimes wearing clothing I made for them. I then use a program I have on my computer to make them into stickers. That's the part I like because I then get to move them around in different positions. It reminds me of the colorforms I played with when I was really little. When I was around 3 yrs old or so we lived in the Bronx along the grand concourse. On the corner there was multiple lanes of traffic. My sister worked in a toy shop on the other side of those lanes of traffic. Sometimes I would be brought over to where she worked by my mom and as they talked I would play with a display colorform in her shop. So to me the computer program I have to make these dolls into stickers feels like a grown up digital version of  colorforms, lol.  And sometimes the process is a bit different involving me to hand drawing or painting something out and then scanning it into the computer where I then rework it. Depends on what I'm going for or working on at the moment. But for the last two years most of my new work involves my computer and many different programs. Resulting in,  insane headaches from staring at the computer for so long. I'm hoping that people I'm submitting some of these newer pieces to will be able to see the time and layers involved in the making of what looks like a simple picture.