Art = Play

I approach art like a portal to playfulness. For me, it’s this brilliant escape to a world where rules don’t exist and I can experiment without consequences. Real life demands structure and consistency but art? It expands with change.

My art style is a full-throttle embodiment of this in the sense that it’s always changing. No, really I mean it… I can’t seem to make the same thing twice no matter how hard I try.

When I did my BFAH at Queen’s (Ontario, Canada), I spent a lot of time fighting with this truth. I remember looking at my peers’ art and being so jealous of their polished, cohesive styles and wishing I could do that too. However, in time I learned to respect my inability to repeat myself in art. Consistently inconsistent, that’s my thing.

My main art practices include ceramics, sketchbook work of all sorts, and printmaking. I’m also a high school visual art & English teacher for ten months of the year and a car camping nomad for the other two. I write a lot of poetry but I’ll probably never publish it and although I do well with people and have great friends, I still prefer the solitude of my own company every time.

I consider all aspects of my life to be part of my creative practice because art is way more than just the pieces you create- it’s a way of moving through life and letting it all blend and fuse together. Although not intentional, I’ve noticed that when my individual artworks are viewed together, they create a larger body of work that's far bigger than any one intention or moment. I think it’s an essence of me, like some giant sprawling never-finished self-portrait.

As you follow along with my work, I invite you to consider each piece in two ways: as its own unique moment and also as a member of a much bigger creative continuum.

I also encourage you to think about the bigger picture that your own creations form. Yes, I mean it even if you don’t consider yourself to be a “creative” person. We all make art in some way whether it be relationships with others, to-do lists scribbled on scrap paper, how we dress for the day or even the music we choose to listen to. Our preferences, trademarks, and consistent inconsistencies are all marks of creative energy.

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@joh.makess