Artist Statement
The world is constantly in flux. To find stability we inherently operate from a series of categorical rules or scripts, which we use to interpret the world; these are known as schemata. For example, when you approach an unknown door you apply a series of schemata about other doors which you have used, which then allows you to know automatically how the new door will work. You don’t have to be taught how to use every door that you encounter.
Schemata are formed by an individual’s experiences and cognitive processes, which include: rubrics, categories, stereotypes, social roles, worldviews and archetypes. The function of schemata in our daily lives is crucial, but can be equally damaging. It allows us to go into “auto pilot” for innumerous events during the day and conduct our lives more efficiently. However, when in that automatic state, we can easily ignore present events and new information. It is, in effect, memory and thus operates in the past, while simultaneously working as tool for plotting and predicting future events. Curiously, this inhibits us from fully engaging in the present. Once a routine has been established, there is a danger of operating solely from your existing schemata. We lose the ability to perceive the inevitable changes in our environment.
My fascination lies at the schemata’s point of creation. It is a threshold period before you apply a known schema that we consequently enter into a relationship with our surroundings in which everything is equal, everything is one. In Buddhist philosophy, this could be defined as a moment of Zen. The creation of schemata is exploration, discovery, and connection to my surroundings at the most intimate level. My work is the product of a constant search for that point of creation.