Artist Statement (Blog #1) | Finding the "Real"
My Artist Statement? Get ready for grittiness. Get ready for truthfulness. Get ready for "real".
Born in NYC, my biggest source of Art inspiration throughout my entire life has been riding the NYC Subway. You can't get more profound than observing the people around you in a subway car, while riding home to Queens on the E train one Sunday evening. To your right, you have a little Chinese woman teaching herself how to read in english by referencing the book “Heidi” and typing the english words into her little electronic translator, and having the Chinese equivalent of every sentence pop up at her when she presses “enter”. To your left, you have an adorable little middle-aged woman who is peeling a fresh orange, making the entire Subway car smell amazing, and looking like there’s no happier person on the planet than herself. When you comment on the delicious smell of the orange, she responds that she just recently, at 47, discovered fruit for the first time in her life, and that it has absolutely changed her. She’s lost 40lbs and is more happy than she’s been in ‘forever’. Across from you, you have a more-stylish-than-anyone-else-living-on-the-planet gay couple. One guy has bright orange hair that beautifully compliments his chocolate-colored skin, and perfectly matches the orange train map on the wall behind him. On the left side of the couple, you have someone who’s trying to be invisible as they fight back tears. It’s the all-too-familiar-NYC-breakup. The rest of us can imagine that they were dumped over dinner, and are now fighting back a meltdown, until they get home to the privacy of their apartment. Then, on the right side of the gay couple, is an adorable girl with a cheetah-patterned hijab, who keeps smiling at you. Again, all while you’re riding one subway car, at 10pm on a Sunday night, going from Lexington Avenue/53rd Street to Court Square-23rd Street, Queens.
And there is nothing more profound in the world.
So, this is what I value in the world of art. Art that is as gritty, as honest, and as truthful as my Subway rides. Music and Acting are my two artistic interests, so if I think about recent films and music that have inspired me; I think of the 2017 film; “Call me by Your Name”, and the musician; Post Malone. I enjoyed the film so much because the acting in it, was so specific. I remember this one love-scene where the young Elio (Timothee Chalamet) was flirting with his love, Oliver (Armie Hammer) and he was goofing around by falling on top of and making funny faces/sounds to Oliver. I was so moved by the fact that their relationship was as honest and as real to me as the adorable gay couple's relationship that I was just appreciating on the Subway. There was such pure self-expression from both of the actors, that I feel like I'm peeking in on a world within the film, rather than watching a well-executed scene. And I’m currently enamored by the musician Post Malone, for the same reason. Even though I'm not really one to listen to his "genre" of music, I absolutely adore him. And it's because of how darn 'himself' he is. Tracks like “I Fall Apart” or “Leave”, are so gritty and honest, they literally could have been words out of his mouth as he was venting to a friend on the Subway.
Born in NYC, my biggest source of Art inspiration throughout my entire life has been riding the NYC Subway. You can't get more profound than observing the people around you in a subway car, while riding home to Queens on the E train one Sunday evening. To your right, you have a little Chinese woman teaching herself how to read in english by referencing the book “Heidi” and typing the english words into her little electronic translator, and having the Chinese equivalent of every sentence pop up at her when she presses “enter”. To your left, you have an adorable little middle-aged woman who is peeling a fresh orange, making the entire Subway car smell amazing, and looking like there’s no happier person on the planet than herself. When you comment on the delicious smell of the orange, she responds that she just recently, at 47, discovered fruit for the first time in her life, and that it has absolutely changed her. She’s lost 40lbs and is more happy than she’s been in ‘forever’. Across from you, you have a more-stylish-than-anyone-else-living-on-the-planet gay couple. One guy has bright orange hair that beautifully compliments his chocolate-colored skin, and perfectly matches the orange train map on the wall behind him. On the left side of the couple, you have someone who’s trying to be invisible as they fight back tears. It’s the all-too-familiar-NYC-breakup. The rest of us can imagine that they were dumped over dinner, and are now fighting back a meltdown, until they get home to the privacy of their apartment. Then, on the right side of the gay couple, is an adorable girl with a cheetah-patterned hijab, who keeps smiling at you. Again, all while you’re riding one subway car, at 10pm on a Sunday night, going from Lexington Avenue/53rd Street to Court Square-23rd Street, Queens.
And there is nothing more profound in the world.
So, this is what I value in the world of art. Art that is as gritty, as honest, and as truthful as my Subway rides. Music and Acting are my two artistic interests, so if I think about recent films and music that have inspired me; I think of the 2017 film; “Call me by Your Name”, and the musician; Post Malone. I enjoyed the film so much because the acting in it, was so specific. I remember this one love-scene where the young Elio (Timothee Chalamet) was flirting with his love, Oliver (Armie Hammer) and he was goofing around by falling on top of and making funny faces/sounds to Oliver. I was so moved by the fact that their relationship was as honest and as real to me as the adorable gay couple's relationship that I was just appreciating on the Subway. There was such pure self-expression from both of the actors, that I feel like I'm peeking in on a world within the film, rather than watching a well-executed scene. And I’m currently enamored by the musician Post Malone, for the same reason. Even though I'm not really one to listen to his "genre" of music, I absolutely adore him. And it's because of how darn 'himself' he is. Tracks like “I Fall Apart” or “Leave”, are so gritty and honest, they literally could have been words out of his mouth as he was venting to a friend on the Subway.
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