Artist's Statement

My formal education in the visual arts includes a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Humboldt and a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Oklahoma.

Fifteen years ago, I turned to drawing from painting because I lost my studio for a time. At first the transition was difficult because most contemporary artists are educated to believe that drawings are, at best, a workman’s means to a more profound end. Over the years I have come to learn that the medium is not what elevates the work, but rather the work itself.

My drawings all start in the same manner. I begin by covering the paper with a loose random matrix of lightly drawn lines. I fill the sheet by creating images and forms I identify in the random patterns created by the lightly drawn lines. My art is reflective of our current time, times past, and those to come. As such it can be viewed as a hybrid. It has elements of Surrealism, low-brow art, qualities of tattoo art, as well as anatomical body parts and the alchemy that occurs in creating fantastic imagery. The visual elements include images that are animal like, plant like, man-made and invented. Because I don’t have a plan or narrative when I begin a work, my drawings are abstract while at the same time suggestive of a narrative because of the created imagery.

My main motivation for making art is to have fun. When I cease to enjoy myself, or feel that art making has become a job, then I will give it up. It is my hope that the viewer will receive as much enjoyment from the work as I had in its making.

Timothy Anderson