ICUL CTION C
o
n
t
e
m
p
o
r
a
r
y
A
r
t
R
e
v
i
e
Dalia Smayze
w
A nne Murray Lives and works in Barcelona, Spain
An artist's statement
I
t was a very long time ago that I remember painting images of birds with oil paint while crouched in the corner of the closet of my bedroom in the small town where I grew up. I was the youngest of four children and the only daughter. I spent most of my time alone, painting, drawing, sewing and generally making things with my hands. I would not say that I became an artist, but that it became a term that others used to define my peculiar habit of keeping my own company and creating everything with my own hands. I made small books, large paintings, clothing, costumes, and always watched carefully when anyone was building something. My work is a witness to my particular perception, my awareness and my drive to gather the evidence of our existence, of the connectedness of our experience and the creation of a personal iconography that becomes universal in its humanity.
16
I think that others who know me would say that I am a person that cares, that strives for the best in myself and hopes for it in others. I cherish art as a means to communicate, motivate and to create change, whether through metamorphosis or a gradual redirection of the viewer's eye to something that I sense is important to look at in a particular moment in time. Art is a way to move people, a way to make sense of the world. The singular experience of viewing, but one piece of art, at a moment of openness can and will change someone in an infinite number of ways and has a rebounding effect with exponential possibilities. This is why it is so important to create and use art for the good of humanity.
Anne Murray