Jessica Vorheis
ICUL CTION C o n t e m p o r a r y
A r t
R e v i e w
Special Issue
multifaceted artistic production: while walking our readers through your process, we would like to ask you why did you choose to center your artistic production on such deep exploration of the sphere of spirituality.
Well, my process used to just be “thrown together” quite honestly. I would have an idea and a really terrible scribble of it, then I would sit at my canvas and paint. Now I start with really terrible scribbles to get my idea down that poppped into my head and then I refine that sketch many times until it’s basically a decent drawing of everything exactly how I want it to be. At that point I sketch everything onto the canvas and start filling it all in with color. It’s a fun process to me, mostly because it usually isn’t easy. I love seeing my vision become more clear with each sketch. I’m not this super critical “everything has to be perfect” artist, I definately let the paint do the talking at times. Especially with my skies that I do. There is a color pallete in my head and more often than not the pallete seems to go in it’s own direction and I love it. Art making for me is about being true to myself. I don’t paint what I think other people would like. I paint what is inside of me and if people don’t like it, then that’s ok. I’m not here to please everybody, I’m here to paint what I feel inspired to paint. That’s where my spirituality comes in to play. I ask God for inspiration, I invite him to be part of my process. Alot of the work has been centered around him but there are also other pieces that although have some relation to God and my faith have more personal tones to it. God and I are inseperable so to try and seperate him from my work will bring an end to my work. I also think that my work is centered around such deep explorations of spirituality because it is a hugely important aspect to my life. My faith in Jesus became more than just a belief when I moved to the Portland area and began experiencing that faith in a true and deep way. It became my own and it has influenced most everything I do. It drives me, fills me and leads me, so, naturally it comes out in my artwork. For this special issue of ARTiculAction we
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