Artist’s Statement:

A Free and Responsible Search

The pieces here are drawn from four bodies of work: landscape batiks, abstract birds, sun and moon faces, and poetry pieces. Together, they share free and loose processes of creating that relinquish some control over the outcomes and allow for play.

Each type of artwork embodies the practice of surrender in its own way. Hot wax is used to create the batiks, and its flowing, free-spirited nature yields fluid and unpredictable results. The birds begin with a continuous blind contour line drawing, a method that involves closing one’s eyes and drawing without lifting the pencil. The suns and moons are made rapidly and evolve without preconceived images of the final products. And finally, the poem pieces are built upon phrases that arise from free-flowing thought. Even the breadth of the show itself, drawn from multiple series of works, is a move toward greater freedom and less convention.

Highly rendered, more realistic artwork deserves its place in the world and is satisfying to create; I know this from my own experience. But as I’ve developed as an artist and a person, I’ve embraced a less rigid and more curious approach to creating and living. These works reflect that part of me. I have found that this way, making art acts as a practice toward surrender to life itself. I aspire to spend my entire life growing, living freely, loving bravely, and learning to be comfortable with the unknown. I hope that these pieces inspire a loosening, playfulness, and curiosity in you, too.

-Andy Krebs