Artist's   Statement 

Isabella Teerlink-Plagborg

 

I create my art to question, to explore and to gain a deeper understanding of my artistic choices and intentions.

 

Throughout this past year, I have worked with a wide variety of media including video, photography, folded paper, and graphite drawings. Investigating how I can communicate ideas about color, time and movement through such an array of media has forced me to think deeper and question my previous notions of art. I no longer think that art is limited to simply what we as humans can immediately understand and interpret, but rather that we as artists have the power to challenge ideas. I had never anticipated my artwork to go in the direction of graphite drawings that mimic long exposure photography, nor did I think I could conquer my fear of drawing. Yet that’s exactly what I have done.

 

The three paths that my investigation has taken are, first, exploring the function and interaction of color through its construction and context. Second, attempting to capture movement through photography and drawing as it evolves through space and time. Last, to bring these different facets together through purposeful composition, an overlying idea in most of my work.

 

My inspiration for this work comes from artists such as Idris Khan, Michael Weseley, Carnovsky, Olafur Eliasson, Barbara Kasten, Jasper Johns, Julian Opie and Eadweard Muybridge. Looking at their work has allowed me to synthesize my thoughts while developing my own technical approaches.

 

As an artist, personal growth motivates me to continue expanding and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I started out thinking that the purpose of art was for the creation of beauty. Yet today I realize questioning and exploring are what help us grow as artists and people. Purposeful choices are not for the sake of visual pleasure, but rather for the sake of visual communication, be it ideas, notions or questions. Today I realize that I want my art to be more than a pretty picture. I want to leave the viewer wondering.