Artist Statements
Artist Statements are used to assist the artist's work in conveying the message of the artist
What does it mean to be an artist?
by Griffin Elias
To be an artist is to be one of many personas. To be an artist is to be a dreamer, a storyteller, a caretaker. Just like the first humans Adam and Eve were tasked with maintaining the beauty of the world, Artists are tasked with keeping the world a beautiful place, to keep the riches of thought and sight flowing through society. From birth we receive one of the hardest jobs, it flows through our veins and minds as we walk throughout life. Artists are also burdened by much. While being an artist opens your eyes to many beautiful things, the awful things in the world are thrown in their faces. Akira Kurosawa stated that the job of an artist is to never look away. It may sound nonchalant to a normal individual, but to an artist it could be horrifying. To spend time to soak up the world in all its flaws and glory can be detrimental to the soul, because our world is a f*cked up place. Despite that, an artist will relish in it, to be able to turn it into something beautiful and worthwhile. Many people believe that the facade of being an artist is a simple job, when it’s not. It means hours and hours of stress and late nights, just mulling over what you could make next, then bam: you get this creative high from inspiration, causing you to just ache to get to work. You become so invested and passionate in your work, but unfortunately there’s many limitations. Presentations are due, harsh critiques, premieres, higher ups wanting something different, the overwhelming fear of failure and striving for perfection. It causes the creative spirit in you to be slowly killed over and over, but you have to push through. Because you are an artist, and that is your task.
How does your portfolio reflect you as an artist?
by Griffin Elias
My portfolio represents me as an artist because it’s versatile while still conveying my voice and personal touch. My style can vary between futuristic colorful lights or a field in golden hour with two lovers. I’m in love with moody lights that allow atmospheric building, but I’ve recently come to love shooting with models in nature. I chose these pieces to present because I feel like they convey my creative voice best. This past year I’ve allowed myself to have more creative freedom, and venture for more out of the box ideas and concepts. By doing this I’ve been able to create my best works as of yet. My main message of my work is to voice that uniqueness is power. That can be applied almost anywhere, whether it’s art style, topic, or the people in it. I’m constantly trying to promote originality and diversity within art and our world, and I feel like my more ornate pieces perfectly convey that. I also want people to realize that photography is not just pressing a button, it’s a real and true art form that takes a lot of time and effort. It takes time to learn the skill, but once you do it’s so incredibly worth it. Photography allows someone to create and capture whatever they want, but it also allows people to permanently capture a moment in time. I have this silent fear that I will pass by life all too quickly, and forget the moments within it, so I use photography as a way to capture my memories, even if they are to be stored away somewhere forever.
What do you want to do as an artist in the future?
Looking into the future, I’d love to continue to do photography and expand my talents more. I’d like to expand my horizons creatively, but I would also like to experiment with more controversial topics. As much as I love photography, I would like to focus more time on film going forward, learning how to juggle both. I’d like to turn my passion for film into a career, because I feel a pull towards the film industry. I would like to use my art and creativity to take on the film industry as a passionate feminist, who is also a Christian. I want to go in a more male dominated career, so I would like to be a role model for women and girls everywhere, showing them that you can do anything you put your mind to, and that diversity and inclusion deserves a place in society, because they should not have to feel silenced or less. I want to change the way Christians are viewed, to change the negative stigma against them with my art.
by Griffin Elias