Shelby Crockett

Artist Statement

 The act of creating a work of art, for me is an extremely personal matter, but certainly not secretive in any way. My creative process involves allowing myself to marinate in my surroundings, at least for the initial spark of an idea. I don't venture out in public in order to depict reality, or to subject myself to others' opinions, but instead, to force my mind into its creative state. I find that if I draw, paint, or create in my front yard, the hallway, a park, a school, a plaza, or any public area, I enter a frame of mind that can totally shut off my awareness of my surroundings in a way that isolation doesn't achieve for me. It must be my atmosphere, in a way, that is responsible for my ability to produce artwork I can be proud of.
         That isolation in public is the key for me to access a personal meaning in symbols. Many of my pieces  are made up of components that have some metaphorical meaning to me, but not necessarily to others. I find it extremely interesting that different viewers can have such unique interpretations of artworks.  Therefore, I try not to force meaning onto the audience, but allow them to enjoy the work as deeply, or shallowly as they choose to delve into it, and as symbolically, or literally as they choose to view it.
         This whole process and philosophy of mine for the creation of art is somewhat whimsical, and I think that my inescapable style reflects some of that whimsy. I am concerned with interest in shape and line, and find that I frequently portray things not as they are, but as they look right to me. This often results in enhancements in color, and a flow of line one might not quite see in reality. I've learned that a purpose of art can be to show the way we all view our surroundings differently, rather than appealing to the way the viewer probably sees. That being said, facts do not get ignored. I have long been interested in and studying biological concepts, and they certainly influence what I create and how I create them.
         I achieve the look of my art no matter the medium I use. I am not focused or particularly practiced in any one medium, but find that most frequently I choose media of permanence and controllability. I am drawn to the tactile and traditional, but I want it to look as I want it to look. I therefore frequently mix media in order to control the final appearance. Pen to control the unpredictability of watercolor, Prismacolor pencils for utmost handling of details on an acrylic painting. How I get there is not as important to me as how it looks when I finish it.
         This is all well and good, and I am at ease with my process and ideology of creation, but it also sets up obstacles for me to hurdle. In the realm of representation of the actual--driven by my interest in science and nature, I am ever solving the problem of describing a subject as it is, while remaining true to my process, whatever medium I choose to use. In illustrating stories and ideas, I must represent the ideas at hand within my own style an personal approach. But these types of problems are what help me learn more about not only creating art, but also the subject of that creation through research and visual exploration.


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 Final Project