Artist's Statement

“When people see my work, I'd like them to be honest and simply react in that moment to what they see.”

Introduction:
Like many artists the calling to create came early in life. While on the floor of my mother and father's first apartment they noticed me drawing and how I was able to duplicate images from a book with both hands. Later on my interest grew and I was able to draw with greater control and imagination. What has led me to continue as an artist and sustained my interest are those early experiences of pleasure. In grade school I found myself drawing most of the time. It was a time when I could shut out the world and at the same time create a world. For me there is power in making a private visual space, place, or time for ones self. This means no allowance for interruptions. I believe I was inspired by a spiritual connection from heaven. I have now discovered that creation must always occur in the code of the mind on regular basis, not unlike prayer. Even heaven inspired creations have a code or prayerful language that points back to rich spiritual creative resources. This is the foundation that has helped to develop my visual language.

Finding a Direction:
I have never had a problem with idea development; however, I have struggled with the development of ideas, which show connectivity and passion. The struggle for me has been to develop a keen sensitivity for critical subject assessment; in other words knowing when a theme is substantial enough to be used in a series of fifteen to twenty works. Themes are important for clarifying and defining what drives my choice of visual elements or spiritual expressions. Unlimited by topics, I use many sources for my subject studies. I mostly chose topics that embodied aspects of humor, irony, injustices, and beauty. Finding inspiration often made me seek out the unknown or spots in nature. I remember walking the streets and also biking the back roads of Madison, Wisconsin to find inspiration. Sometimes, I would find inspiration during the long Greyhound bus rides from Madison back home to Des Moines. So much inspiration can be found in galleries, nature and in the movement of a city. Artwork I enjoy viewing for inspiration is as varied as my tastes, dreams, beliefs, and emotional needs. For example, I studied the works of Charles White, Aaron Douglass, and Edward Hopper during my earliest search for a direction. At one time I studied the aftermath of Hiroshima, Bhopal and the Guyana Massacres. The most important lesson I learned from them is that you must not only tell a story but you must do this with content and composition. I often focus on the irony and suffering but use humor to lead a person into the work for a surprise. I want to take a journey within my work and have my audience do the same. However, I never forget that the journey you take changes and also change you.

Reason for Creating:
In my opinion the term artist should include in the definition the words ‘freedom practiced daily'. The acting upon your thoughts and strong beliefs through canvas, paint, or pastels on paper is an act of freedom. When it comes to creation I have often thought of the artist as both midwife and child bearer. This diametric role of visual stewardship and reproduction is the cycle of creation for me. The creation of artwork can require multiple tasks, of which one tasks is to ask why should I create a piece of work? I make art because I like stepping out of time with everyone else's thoughts. I have often thought of this action as my journey to a space existing between the paper, God, and myself. I relish the experience of having ideas that give birth to visions, which result in the creation of art with a spiritual connection. However, with creation there has to be an ending. Every artist must define how he or she finished a work or at least know how to assess a work of art as being complete. When my work is completed I am filled with a sense of deep pride and exhilaration. The act of completing artwork starts with a contrast and comparison of the original idea, in terms of both the visual and spiritual intent. Once my work has a close resemblance to the beginning idea I test its construction with the use of the formal means, grid and geometric foundations. I feel a work is done when all questions regarding composition and color are answered. My use of composition, circles and rectangles are important page elements used in all of my work as structural guides to composition. I used these geometric elements to create the simplified cat icons for my former 'Catheaven' series. I have found this cat icon repeated in many places, e.g., in nature, in Native American art, and also in electrical standards codebooks. There was much humor and release for me during the rendering of that series. That time in my career was made memorable because of the opportunity to express my humor through visual parody and sarcasm using these cat icons.

Humor and sarcasm was a tool often used to help tolerate the experience of being an African American male living and working in the United States during the 1960s to the 1990s. Making art is my opportunity to vent my experiences, rage, and passions in conscious and unconscious ways. The human rights incidents such as the Katrina, Guyana and Bhopal have also touched me deeply. I have used these themes in my past work symbolically and literally in the titles. Some have viewed my work and imposed their own ideas about my symbolic meaning. There are times when viewers find fetishes and other carnal deities in my work. I believe the use of characterization is what provides a platform for messages, discussion, and also a source for the possible tension between my work and the audience. I am probably done with working out my current obsession with these often-sarcastic orbicular forms called 'cats' in two- dimensional form.

I am compelled to work with these visual elements because they are elusive and direct, symbiotic, toy like and sinister. I am often reminded of the adage that people counseling you often describe parts of themselves. It is my goal to create a sense of cerebral completion similar to a Duke Ellington scale making the listener create the

ending note in their head. I want the audience to simply experience, react, and collect as much as they conjure from the moment and then walk away. The ultimate goal for me is to have people see my work, respond honestly, and simply react in the first moment of viewing each piece.

The Tools for Creating Work:
From 2008 to present the physical act of drawing upon simple sheets of paper is enjoyable to me because it provides a place or blank tablet to document new feelings and visions. Going back to the basics has restored my drive for creating images. I have begun to convert my drawings to a digital format using a laptop and software. I purchased a laptop three years prior and did not bring it to the studio until now. I am technically savvy and have successfully integrated technology into my teaching. I am open to all materials and technologies to create art.

My selection of materials to use for creation of art is dependent on the visual dramatic portrayal required, i.e., it depends on the need for a message to have a particular proportion and picture plane shape. I tend to mute colors and take advantage of transparency, contrast, tone, proportion or the illusion of transparency when expressing depth of space. Tools we artists use to create work should have some limitations, so the outcome is not fully controlled or assured. I always go back to the pen or pencil when recovering from a dry spell or artist's block. The ability to produce contrast with the pen is immediate and quick. When my ideas are fresh and impatient I choose a speedy attack of the paper. While paper is one of the most versatile materials I never forget its ability to become a three-dimensional canvas or montage. I am more willing to break from a more traditional use of techniques and tools if it will make an expression clearer. I have recently discovered digital drawing and canvass. Painting traditionally had become an interest along with my drawing directions. I have become a much better painter now, however I am not sure why?

I am attracted to both complex and simple compositions in my work; acrylics have helped me control my shape as it develops on the canvas. Aaron Douglas' simplification has reminded me of the benefits of using simple flat color, so once again I use acrylics for their ability to create the cool plastic palette I want on paper. I enjoy this use of flat color when expressing my images in print form of monotypes, photographic lithographs, and wood relief.

Influences:
I received a full scholarship to Drake University from the Des Moines Register and Tribune of which I was an intern in the photography and news art departments. I was fortunate to have exposure to graphic design, photographic art and news art experiences, which affected my work greatly. In my early days at Drake University I was a ‘technique hound’ as a printmaker, always seeking out new techniques to learn while working under my undergraduate teacher Richard Black. I enjoyed resolving technical printing obstacles to achieve any desired effect or outcome. I never got as close to Mr. Black as I would have like to but I listened to him so I could learn my craft well. The experience as a printer's assistant during the Drake Print Symposiums provided ample training and inspiration to become a master printer or wood engraver. I toyed with the idea of becoming a Tamarind Institute printing candidate, but instead fell in love with the idea of leaving Des Moines, Iowa to work with some of the best printers at the University of Wisconsin, at Madison. I was fortunate to have worked with instructors who mastered their respective tools like Ray Gloeckler, William Wegee, Frieda High-Waskihongo, Ted Pope and Warrington Colescott while studying for may MFA degree at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Our culture is constantly changing and so am I. I have discovered that my body is no longer a friend of solvents and this has forced me to learn how to paint and create digitally based art in stead of using traditional printmaking inks. Now that I work on digital drawing tablets I am reminded that all tools humble us at first and must be mastered through practice. I remember back in 1982 when University of Wisconsin Professor Ted Pope suggested in one of the first computer graphics classes, that we print out the code to our graphic creations, place them on the gallery wall and run them in our minds. In other words, I learned the creation is found in the concept in the code. One just needs to know the language. Continuing to learn the code of new tools for creative expression like designing through programming using CSS (cascading style sheets) has been interesting and a great addition to my skill set. I have designed web blogs and web pages with greater confidence. I am also a strong supporter of the use of open source software (oss) as a means for poor artists to gain equal access to software tools in order to create art as if they were using expensive software.

Summary:
I have met one objective, which was to begin to painting and drawing in a digital format and also remain connected to traditional art techniques as well. I have completed a set of traditionally rendered drawings from the last year and a half. I am ready to show this body of work but I now want to hold off and create digital drawings that contrast and compare the tradition works with the digital. I have many new ideas for creation I would like to test out in my studio. I feel a supportive academic environment is the missing piece. My goal is to obtain continue to investigate the transitioning from traditional to digital rendering of the figure. I would also like an opportunity to continue to teach and create online courses, present open source software to everyone and anyone that will listen, and to continue to create and remain an active mentor in my community.

Don Michael, Jr.