DB's Statement
"I create art because I have to, much like the bird flies because it has to. My
starting point is acknowledging and yielding to the internal impulse demanding attention, like a two year old screaming for id satisfaction NOW. The motivation to create also comes from other places: seeing a stimulating art show, visiting AVAM .org (link at bottom of page) or another museum (or gallery), or discovering my next project. Motivation sometimes arises from strong emotions. Freud said that conflict fuels the passion. I think conflict also fuels creativity. Perhaps this is why so many well-known and unknown artists are tormented/conflicted. Finally, motivation may emerge from discovering a new way of artistic expression. During the act of creating I am solidly in the present. C.S. Lewis said that our only link to eternity is the present moment. Thus, by being here now, temporal pathways to eternity appear. In the same way that someone living in the past can become riddled with anxieties, when one is in the present, awareness becomes heightened and the artwork cries out to be ever more deeply engaged. The viewer of the art must quieten the inner chatter to experience the completed work. Intentional focus on the here/now opens the possibility to experience the fullness of the art's being. The more in the present I am during the creation of the work, and the more the viewer is in the present while looking at the work, the more illuminated the work becomes. The art is not so much looked at, but becomes the one doing the looking. If the viewer can let the ego go and relinquish control to the art, he/she can be enchanted. My work has faceted layers that can only be seen if the piece senses an openness and curiosity from the viewer. But it takes much more than a glance...
The bottom line: my creativity comes from being open and responding to the inner compulsion to create. The ensuing trance like focus resembles an out of body experience allowing the work to transcend the artist. I relate to the outsider who said, "I can't believe I done that."
"I create art because I have to, much like the bird flies because it has to. My
starting point is acknowledging and yielding to the internal impulse demanding attention, like a two year old screaming for id satisfaction NOW. The motivation to create also comes from other places: seeing a stimulating art show, visiting AVAM .org (link at bottom of page) or another museum (or gallery), or discovering my next project. Motivation sometimes arises from strong emotions. Freud said that conflict fuels the passion. I think conflict also fuels creativity. Perhaps this is why so many well-known and unknown artists are tormented/conflicted. Finally, motivation may emerge from discovering a new way of artistic expression. During the act of creating I am solidly in the present. C.S. Lewis said that our only link to eternity is the present moment. Thus, by being here now, temporal pathways to eternity appear. In the same way that someone living in the past can become riddled with anxieties, when one is in the present, awareness becomes heightened and the artwork cries out to be ever more deeply engaged. The viewer of the art must quieten the inner chatter to experience the completed work. Intentional focus on the here/now opens the possibility to experience the fullness of the art's being. The more in the present I am during the creation of the work, and the more the viewer is in the present while looking at the work, the more illuminated the work becomes. The art is not so much looked at, but becomes the one doing the looking. If the viewer can let the ego go and relinquish control to the art, he/she can be enchanted. My work has faceted layers that can only be seen if the piece senses an openness and curiosity from the viewer. But it takes much more than a glance...
The bottom line: my creativity comes from being open and responding to the inner compulsion to create. The ensuing trance like focus resembles an out of body experience allowing the work to transcend the artist. I relate to the outsider who said, "I can't believe I done that."