"The Hiking Trip" Artist's Statement

Gallery

This is a very sentimental series. With these paintins I wanted to capture the excitement and wonder that comes from a hike - be it a trek through a beautiful land or the journey one takes through life

Inspiration for these works was drawn from two people. The first was my mother, who had recently taken trips to hike in California and New Zealand. The images she brought back served as inspiration for the paintins. Instead of drawing from a picture outright, I centered on themes to work from. What impressed me the most were photos of steep cliffs that formed corridors my mother and her party walked. Instead of being plain rock, there was plantlife bursting from every crack. The entire setting was alive with complexity. When moving through life, one can enjoy the majestic view on a grand scare - or savor the lush details. The California Hike pieces are reactions to that ideas, starting with a look into the sprouts emerging from the details in "California Hike 1," to a wide view of the landscape in "California Hike 3."

The second person inspiring the work was Sara Chroussis, a friend of mine who died last December. Because she had died over Shepherd's winter break, I was likely the last of her friends to learn of her passing. The day before I found out, I had begun composing a letter to Sara in hopes of connecting with her more during the semester. Our work had always been very compatible, but our schedules had never matched up for a full collaboration. Having missed a chance to collaborate, as well as her funeral and memorial service, I needed a way to mourn her personally. Sara was known for her paints composed of circles with drips of paint. Using her work as inspiration, I tried a new technique in composition. I wanted to paint something of which she would be proud. The paintings "The Tree of Life" and "Detour" were left in a semi-raw state to show the process underneath - as it is what she would do.

Because the series is about the journey through life, I close to compose the paintins so they would for one continuous flow. All five form a loop, meaning there truly is no beginning and end piece. The series can also be broken up into two groups, the hiking set for my mother and the others for Sara. They form their own internal continuity. With the ability to change the order of compositions, one is given a reminder to interact with the world around them. Enjoy life, for it is precious.