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Variance

Finding something new is one of the best feelings as an artist.

The challenge was to pick only a few works from a fantastic group of submissions. But, of course, we go into these processes with our baggage and biases as individuals. I just completed my MFA journey, and I focused on a set of ideas for quite a while. From the first set of submissions, I knew my expectations were a false ceiling in judging this work. The work was so good! So I reset myself and opened my mind to what I was seeing. It was like taking off sunglasses and finally seeing the brilliance of the sky.

The artists were in their own conversations with form and color, gesture and material, pattern and scale. Art is a way that individuals filter their experiences, and within this work, I feel their voices manifested as visual documentation of feelings. There were moments of solace and moments of anxiety. There were the structures of life revealed both organic and linear. The color was used both as an overwhelming force and as subtlety.

The breadth of the artists' work is the story of this exhibition—embracing the perspectives of all these other people who are experiencing this very same world in widely different ways. New ways of seeing the world are a gift that expands your understanding.

I appreciate the opportunity to review this work for Erika and the I Like Your Work community. It was challenging but super fun. I wish all my artists out there nothing but long, prosperous studio days.

JBarber
www.jbarberstudio.com
www.studionoizepodcast.com