Dan Hook, Drawings
Feb 2007 to Mar 2007, Oakwood Neighborhood
I imagine most people encounter some difficulty when required to write an artist’s statement… no matter how carefully worded, it just sounds so pretentious. Perhaps I could compile a few paragraphs of flowery prose, portraying each piece as the culmination of an elaborate and complex thought process, but, in reality, what drives anyone to create anything? Curiosity? The desire for recognition? Simply the need to get it all out and down for posterity? Of course, the honest answer is; all of the above. This particular body of work was inspired by my people-watching stint as a greeter/security guard at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. The various facets of our personalities are intricately formed by each and every social contact we have ever engaged in. A memorable phrase, a knowing smile, a look of admiration or disdain, all combine to mold our own unique viewpoints of life.
Hidden beneath our thin veneer of civility, lies a bubbling emotional cauldron of hopes, fears, petty concerns and insecurities. I am attempting to depict these feelings in the “About Face” series.
