State of Being

• Main Author: Bradshaw, Anne
• Format: Others
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 2006
• Subjects: painting; self-analysis; drawing; fiber; Art and Design; Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1233; http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2232&context=etd

My work speaks to the processes of adaptation and assimilation, phenomena that explain the way in which we transform life experience and incorporate the effects of such experience into the daily workings of our psyche. To this extent my work is a self-analysis, an autobiographical reckoning, a non-verbal representation of collective experiences rendered in forms upon which images are spontaneously drawn or painted with fiber. The process of making art as a means of accessing creative instincts is a manifestation of the way in which I experience life. Adapting and assimilating to our human condition is an art, a form of survival that allows for self-expression as a technique of understanding, a way of translating beauty into collective consciousness, a means of transforming atrocity too enormous for words, an offer of conversation that transcends human reason, a sharing of imagination that embraces the past, the present and the future. As the world grows increasingly complex, our very existence is threatened by terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and socioeconomic confusion. A culture driven by consumerism responds to global competition for technology that races against the speed of light. Human misunderstanding is relegated to war, courts of law and bi-partisan politics. Adapting and assimilating life circumstances and experiences with a sensitivity to the interplay of intensely colorful fiber in my hands affects an optimistic and energetic reinterpretation of life's complexity. In a time of uncertainty, art is a reason for hope.