Artist Statement
Walking into an amusement park, there's a wonderful feeling that goes through your whole body. Its all different kinds of emotions happening at once: happiness, excitement, relaxing, and moving. It’s full of magic for everyone, and a place to escape. In my work, I want to transport myself to other locations by representing them as a children's ride, rather than just the place. It makes me feel more immersed in that world, rather than just viewing another picture. I’ve always been the person to want to be out there and exploring, and seeing things for myself. However, I rarely travel, and have only seen so much of even just this country. So when making my pieces, I am taking people on a ride to different locations. Instead, I wanted to transport myself, and whoever views it, right into the place I’m representing. Rides at amusement parks send you to far off places, and that's what I am trying to do with my pieces- send the viewer to different places that I know and exaggerate them into rides.
Now that I am older, I started to figure out what I want to do with my life. I’ve always had a fascination with amusement parks, and I really see myself contributing to the creation of these rides. So when creating my pieces, I’ve put a lot of different thought in how it would work with crowds, or how they would function with different sized people. I also show the different parts of the ride, like the entryway, the seat, and views of the ride.
One of the rides I created was an apple orchard. My family owns an orchard far out in the country, but it hasn't been used and kept for 30 years now. After seeing it overgrown with vines and haunting dead trees, I envisioned what it could be in the ride I created. Fresh open spaces with lively bright trees. A rattling tractor takes you down a row of trees, as large flavorful apples hang overhead. After traveling through the trees. You end at a barn where you depart from the ride. I'm imaging this ride as a way to see to the orchard as my own creation. Through the eyes of an adult, lots of kid things seem to be basic and broken down to easily understand. But through the child's eyes, they see so much more than just a farm. They imagine being a farmer, with animals and riding in the tractor as if it were real. Isn’t this the point of going on rides like this--Experiencing something that you may never get to experience even if it is simulated. I hope one day to be able to “transport” people to a places that they may never get to experience.
Walking into an amusement park, there's a wonderful feeling that goes through your whole body. Its all different kinds of emotions happening at once: happiness, excitement, relaxing, and moving. It’s full of magic for everyone, and a place to escape. In my work, I want to transport myself to other locations by representing them as a children's ride, rather than just the place. It makes me feel more immersed in that world, rather than just viewing another picture. I’ve always been the person to want to be out there and exploring, and seeing things for myself. However, I rarely travel, and have only seen so much of even just this country. So when making my pieces, I am taking people on a ride to different locations. Instead, I wanted to transport myself, and whoever views it, right into the place I’m representing. Rides at amusement parks send you to far off places, and that's what I am trying to do with my pieces- send the viewer to different places that I know and exaggerate them into rides.
Now that I am older, I started to figure out what I want to do with my life. I’ve always had a fascination with amusement parks, and I really see myself contributing to the creation of these rides. So when creating my pieces, I’ve put a lot of different thought in how it would work with crowds, or how they would function with different sized people. I also show the different parts of the ride, like the entryway, the seat, and views of the ride.
One of the rides I created was an apple orchard. My family owns an orchard far out in the country, but it hasn't been used and kept for 30 years now. After seeing it overgrown with vines and haunting dead trees, I envisioned what it could be in the ride I created. Fresh open spaces with lively bright trees. A rattling tractor takes you down a row of trees, as large flavorful apples hang overhead. After traveling through the trees. You end at a barn where you depart from the ride. I'm imaging this ride as a way to see to the orchard as my own creation. Through the eyes of an adult, lots of kid things seem to be basic and broken down to easily understand. But through the child's eyes, they see so much more than just a farm. They imagine being a farmer, with animals and riding in the tractor as if it were real. Isn’t this the point of going on rides like this--Experiencing something that you may never get to experience even if it is simulated. I hope one day to be able to “transport” people to a places that they may never get to experience.