Introduction
Art has always been an intrical part of my life. In the classroom there were the kids good at math, sports and music. I was known as the creative kid. Naturally, I was passionate about art. My desire was to stand out when it came to art ,therefore, I was never fascinated with traditional forms of art. Instead, I was attracted to spray paint and train car graffiti thus, begins my long commitment with graffiti. From the age of 10 I became obsessed with art and because of my passion I became immersed in the culture. Riding bikes with my friends after school quickly became afternoons practicing with spray paint. I wrote graffiti for 13 years under the name "Slive". After attending The Art Institute I was faced with some turning points in my life. I had started to push my graffiti too far where the line between a "graffiti piece" and "traditional art" became blurred. The letter structure was no longer the focus of my work, rather I focused on what the over all composition looked like. So that's when I decided to spend a Winter in the studio exploring new directions to take my work.
Artist Statement
Glitchwave is the combination of Glitch Art and Synthwave, the two biggest influences in my work. The glitch is a conceptual component to the piece. Glitch being used broadly in the term. The errors being exploited are sometimes analog or digital. Elements of the painting are processed using computer software then used as a reference photo for the final painting. The distinctive 1980's aesthetic is conveyed by the vibrant use of color and computer graphics rendered by old technology. My visualization of the 80's is not how it was portrayed in history, it is to be considered as a modern take on the revision of the 1980's aesthetic.
My work is designed to be seen in two lighting condition to create two different impacts. In the presence of gallery lighting, I want the work to create the sense of being sentient. In comparison when Artificial Intelligence becomes indistinctive to humans so is my quality of craftsmanship of my art. The smoothness of the substrate is used to convey blurred line between man and machine. This is to draw the connection to glitch art being primarily a digital form of work.
Additionally, I tend to focus on lighting. I became fascinated with light in dark places after walking the streets of inner cities at night. The visual impact of the fluorescent and neon lights contrasted with the dark blues and purples in it's surrounding environment was mesmerizing. I also found it captivating that most people never get the chance to experience that or if they do, they don't stop to take in the view. With each piece, I try to recreate that feeling of being mesmerized by the light. To accomplish this with a similar impact, I use UV light sensitive additives in acrylic paint. When shown in the presence of a UV Light, the color's vibrance is greatly increased. To contrast this, the dark sections of the painting become richer. The use of these lighting condition not only make the colors glow, it is used to create dimensionality within a 2D painting. The use of black is intended to create an illusion of depth. I wanted segments of the painting to feel as if it were a dark alley way in the heart of the city which could be explored. The pop of color simulates the brightness of neon signage in the dark on the other side of those alley ways.
The creative process for each piece starts out on the computer. I use a combination of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to illustrate and then compose a template that I will later paint. This is the only point in the process that isn't structured, rather freeform. The time varies that it takes me to figure out which design elements work together, color and composition layout. Once I have locked in a complete composition I prepare my substrate. I have chosen to work with MDF (Micro-Fiber Density) board. I then create stencils using the digital design as a template. At this point I think about the painting in terms of layers like Photoshop. This helps me translate the layer vectors to stencil layers. Finally, an airbrush is my method of application of paint. The fine specs of paint are comparable to the pixels on a computer monitor.