Motivations: Purity

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this . . . and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
- James 1:27

During the brief stint I spent in California I painted a lot while frequenting galleries and museums on a monthly basis. It gave me an itch. For the first time I decided I wanted to show my work in the galleries. I wanted to be part of that system. And so one day I approached a local gallery, which I frequented, in an attempt to land a showing. I met with one of the owners of the gallery to talk it over and in the process he critiqued my work and told me what he felt was missing from it. I returned home a little discouraged but intent on showing my work. I applied his advice, changing my methods and aesthetic however minutely, and returned. It didn’t seem right but upon returning to the gallery the owner was impressed with my efforts. He put my work in a show the very same month. I was successfully torn.

The gallery is filled with politics. Everyone is a critic. Galleries exist to make money while building their own reputation. Patrons buy what sells in hopes of historic return and, as an artist, I . . . am soiled by it. And that is what this experience taught me.

I want to be free and unfettered in my expression. I want to make art that seems right. I want people to see my expression without the filter of the art institution’s politics or monetary considerations. I want to show my work beyond the walls of the gallery, therefore, I choose the street. I choose the street because I believe art is best when it is free and accessible to all, pure and undefiled by the politics of the [art] world. I choose the street because, for whatever it means in all honesty, my art is the truest active expression of my religion.