questioning...

what is this place?
what is this blog supposed to be all about?
me? my practice? both?
sometimes its title haunts me. sometimes i fear it pushes me in a direction i shouldn't go.

in school, i became pretty good at separating myself from the work in a sense. i could talk about the work without referencing myself, my life, my history... and, for the most part, that was definitely the best way to go about it. it's hard to find that elusive line between giving enough background and insight in to the work and giving away too much. sometimes, it's much more comfortable to talk about the theoretical premise of the work rather than attempt to define it in terms of my own emotions and experiences. i guess i'm beginning to worry that i've talked too much, been too free with certain bits of information.

the work that i'm most attracted to is work that can play in both fields- at one turn it is all big-brained intellectualism and analytical prowess, at the next it is emotional and romantic, poetic. i want my work to operate that way as well and i think, sometimes, it does... until i open my big mouth.

the work is, will always be, more important than my self. of course my experiences are largely responsible for the aesthetic i cater to and the images i'm attracted to, but does that really matter? do i need to explain where my defaults come from? do i need to situate my technique in my own psychology? hmmmmmm. one of my mentors would issue an angry and annoyed 'NO!'.

what do you think? should an artist wear their heart on their sleeve or should they let some things remain silent and unseen? is the work somehow enriched by receiving insider information or does it detract from it?

it is the awkward dance between public and private selves.