| Valerie Patterson...
full time art teacher and
artist
Creating a social consciousness...an artist
statement |
|
While each of my works inevitably contains a sense of the
personal, I believe that it is also important that each contain a
social consciousness. I strive to create images that will provoke
action, thought, and a sense of commonality. |
 |
This image entitled Inside the Box is a call for more
open-mindedness, flexibility, and an acceptance of differences. The
boys in the cage represent the stifling of our very souls by many of
our long entrenched beliefs. Things we know to be right or
so , simply because we are told over and over again that they
are. For example, boys should not wear pink. |
| I believe that it is the artist's job
to move the viewer beyond mere aesthetics, to probe beneath the
surface of an action, comment, belief, relationship to expose
a piece the essence of a piece, no matter how disturbing or
unsettling it may be. |
 |
This image entitled Into the Woods is meant to be
dreamlike. The child leaves no footprints in the snow. The child
represents hope and time while the winter background juxtaposes the
beauty against the coldness of the world.
|
| I often employ images of the very young and very
old as symbols of vulnerability, innocence, and struggle.
|
 |
This image entitled Gulf Coast Refugees is a response
to some of the politics surrounding the Gulf Coast devastation. The
young boy is floating through a flooded street with an expression of
serenity. He will be rescued. He will continue. Next to him, a black
baby doll symbolizes marginalization and lack of autonomy. |
