Saturday, May 24, 2008
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Artist Statement
Time...Transition...Jazz
Justin Vann Walden
My intentions, through this body of work, are to create an atmosphere which the viewer can enter, both through perceptive and physical means. Color and movement are also integral factors that I use carefully to express certain moods and emotions, such as warmth, rawness or romance. The decisions I make in my works are presented in a manner which does not force the viewer to respond one particular way; the approach serves as a diving board for the viewer’s
further exploration.
In my work, I strive to create a space that sets the viewer’s senses in constant motion, never allowing for static moments. To counter stasis, I have been concentrating on creating
multiple centers. By multiple centers I mean different areas of interest that allow the viewer’s eyes to travel so they are never focusing on the same area.
My works of late have been biographical portraiture, through print, of jazz musicians and also visual music translations. The portraits tell a story of the musician’s life through the use of
detailed symbolism. The works may also express the musician’s ideas or style of playing. The visual music translations are designed to bring physical life to any chosen composition. After learning about my attraction to the Late-Victorian and Jazz Ages together with the discovery of
Whitfield Lovell’s work, I embarked on a journey of using found materials, objects and antiques to convey my concepts. There is something so pure about a found object because it has natural beauty. And the use of antiquity is important because these objects have breathed the same time and space as these musicians and eras which I portray.
Jazz is a driving force in my life and my art. This genre of music is both ordered and chaotic simultaneously which relates to my work and I use jazz equally, if not more so, as
someone uses color, structure or paint. My series, Visual Rhythms: Tranquil Momentum focuses on capturing and translating the moods and emotions which are displayed throughout 1920's New Orleans style jazz and its roots in ragtime. Its sister series, Chops, Pipes and Axes, takes a more realistic look through portraiture of jazz musicians and visual translations of musical compositions. I have combined these two groups of work to created a body titled Time...Transition...Jazz.
Justin Vann Walden
My intentions, through this body of work, are to create an atmosphere which the viewer can enter, both through perceptive and physical means. Color and movement are also integral factors that I use carefully to express certain moods and emotions, such as warmth, rawness or romance. The decisions I make in my works are presented in a manner which does not force the viewer to respond one particular way; the approach serves as a diving board for the viewer’s
further exploration.
In my work, I strive to create a space that sets the viewer’s senses in constant motion, never allowing for static moments. To counter stasis, I have been concentrating on creating
multiple centers. By multiple centers I mean different areas of interest that allow the viewer’s eyes to travel so they are never focusing on the same area.
My works of late have been biographical portraiture, through print, of jazz musicians and also visual music translations. The portraits tell a story of the musician’s life through the use of
detailed symbolism. The works may also express the musician’s ideas or style of playing. The visual music translations are designed to bring physical life to any chosen composition. After learning about my attraction to the Late-Victorian and Jazz Ages together with the discovery of
Whitfield Lovell’s work, I embarked on a journey of using found materials, objects and antiques to convey my concepts. There is something so pure about a found object because it has natural beauty. And the use of antiquity is important because these objects have breathed the same time and space as these musicians and eras which I portray.
Jazz is a driving force in my life and my art. This genre of music is both ordered and chaotic simultaneously which relates to my work and I use jazz equally, if not more so, as
someone uses color, structure or paint. My series, Visual Rhythms: Tranquil Momentum focuses on capturing and translating the moods and emotions which are displayed throughout 1920's New Orleans style jazz and its roots in ragtime. Its sister series, Chops, Pipes and Axes, takes a more realistic look through portraiture of jazz musicians and visual translations of musical compositions. I have combined these two groups of work to created a body titled Time...Transition...Jazz.