rufaro116

Something from Nothing

In all of my art, I have discovered a recurring theme. I enjoy the fact that art begins with just stuff—junk—nothing. A blob of paint, a piece of wood, a lump of clay: I love the fact that I can take these seemingly useless, meaningless items and turn them into something appealing, emotional, intimate, beautiful—something that communicates to people. In some of my art work I have left evidence of what it was created from: brush strokes showing in the paint, lines of charcoal out from the edge of the image, eraser marks, and rough wood showing through. I have done these things on purpose, because I want to remind the viewer that everything they are seeing came from things that, left alone, would be nothing.

Colors
I have always been fascinated with colors. Ever since I was a child, I would take note of all the varieties of colors, whether found in a leaf, a sunset, or a piece of cloth. My art reflects this enjoyment of colors. I enjoy watching how colors set each other off, when placed next to each other on a canvas. Sometimes I will take an object, and emphasize colors that one may not normally see there, but are, in fact, part of the color composition of that object, whether it is a person, a bottle, or a waterfall.

The Human figure
Another one of my fascinations as an artist is the human figure. I have filled countless pieces of paper with hands, and arm, and legs, and faces, and drawings of the whole figure, and I never tire of it! Besides the aesthetic pleasure I get from the human figure, I also believe that it is one of the most powerful instruments an artist can use to convey emotion, and I have tried to use this in my artwork.

Window
Many of my art pieces are windows into my spiritual relationship with God. For many years I struggled with the fact that there are aspects about my relationship with Christ that I find almost impossible to put into words. Then I realized I had the perfect avenue of communication (literally) at my finger tips: visual art. From then on I have been working on this form of testimony about what God means to me, what He’s teaching me and how they are both affecting me in my daily life. Like any personal testimony, you may not understand it but you can’t refute either.