artist statement

this is regarding my most recent series:

"Life is the sum of all your choices." I believe Albert Camus said it best when describing our personal lives. Every choice that we make defines us. Each day we are faced with experiences and choices that take us on a certain path; a path that ultimately defines us as who we are. In this series I concentrated on regrets and the feeling that comes from a less than favorable choice. Regrets were an interesting topic to investigate through my own life and in general, because everyone wonders what their life would be like had they made a different choice.
These pieces deal a lot with my own personal regrets and trying to predict a different outcome based on my own personal choices. The cars in these pieces were drawn to represent distance and travel. They also deal with life on the road and playing in a band. Choices in my life usually revolve around life on the road, whether it is for school, visiting friends, or playing a show. The text is from dialogue, songs, road signs, and everything that I've taken in from these past events. I kept a lot of the text illegible as well as the figures, emphasizing certain parts and keeping others at a distance. I kept the colors dull and muted, much like the memories I have from these events, while bringing out certain moments that are frozen in my mind. Layering also played a large part in this series in order to stress the ambiguity and haziness of these certain trips or events.
Overall this series of work was depressing to work on. As I layered the moments from my past memories I couldn't help but think of the choices I've made that have brought me here. I'll end this statement with a quote from the band American Football, a quote that I believe sums up the series. "Not to be, overly dramatic…I just think its best, because you can't miss what you forget." Past regrets are in the past. I'm choosing to leave mine as they were, because in the end they're what become the most beautiful.