Dirk Joseph

Executive Planet Eater

Acrylic on canvas

36″ x 30″

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Artist Statement

“I make art to record dreams and experience. I make art to create dreams and experience.”  

The process of bringing an idea from the mental space of imagination and feelings to a physical representation has fascinated me since childhood. I thought of art as play at its most sacred. Even as a child, it made me appreciate being human, as I saw no other creature doing it with the capacity that we do. I considered all technology to be a form of artistic creation. Often, that young me ruminated on the thought that this capacity to create must be part of our function in the evolution of the universe. Over the years I have become keenly interested with the fact of how we also become entrained by our own creations. Art imitates life, and then our lives return the favor, for better or worse.  

I have been teaching art in schools and other community settings for 30 years. As an artist it is obvious to me the value and power of creative expression, but I have observed resistance amongst many of my students to embrace the creator within them. Trends in our modern culture disrupt the creative flow of many people. The harsh self-doubt, self-criticism, and pervasive self-censoring that is a byproduct of an insecure, hyper-competitive, and individualistic culture separates people from their authentic self. The result is a fragmented population of consumers that too often forget that they are also creators.  

I aim to use art as a connective social medicine, to stimulate the imaginative capacity within my audiences and myself. By engaging the creator within, we connect to the flow of life around us. Our lives, our relationships, and nature itself benefits. 

dirkjart.com 
stringtheorytheater.com  
instagram: @dirkjart