I have always felt a connection to the arts on many levels and have expressed this connection with a variety of different media. At an early age I was performing on stage in plays and musicals so that I could lose myself in the character I was playing. This allowed me to forget all the personal pressures I felt every day. Performing not only gave me a way to escape and entertain but also gave me the opportunity to forget who I was for an hour or sometimes even just a minute and tell someone else’s story. It gave me the chance to bring someone or something lifeless, to life. It also planted the seed that I wanted to express myself artistically, for myself and for others.
Eventually I transitioned to visual art, specifically painting. Painting found me when I needed it the most and renewed my love for creating in a whole new way. With every brushstroke, I fell more in love with the art form. I became obsessed with what paint allowed me to say that words could not do justice for. The visual arts relit the flame of creativity and expression that theatre gave me when I was younger. Through sculpting, drawing, and especially painting, I could take a blank canvas and transform it into a work of art through my brightly colored brushstrokes. It became natural for me to create, wanting nothing more than to make art for people to view, ponder, question, find inspiration in, and admire. I wanted to create beautiful worlds to escape to.
I constantly find myself wanting to escape. Whether it be to a far-off land that I have never been to or even back to past moments in my life. I find peace and satisfaction depicting such scenes. Just as I brought to life characters and their stories through acting, I try to bring to life scenes and moments in time through various types of visual art media. For example, a piece “Living on the Edge” depicts a girl sitting on the edge of a cliff looking over. It captures a moment and gives the viewer the opportunity to experience and feel what the main character in the painting is feeling. We also see this in “Sherbert Skies in Her Eyes.” This piece is of me in front of a beach sunset in San Diego, California inspired by the first trip I took to visit my dad after he had moved to the sunshine state. I find serenity in this scene and it brings me back to this moment every time I revisit it. These are just two examples of many of my works that all showcase an escape in some way. I am inspired by surrealism and my brain is attracted to juxtaposition. This motivation can be seen in my piece titled “The World Unknown.” While this piece is an interpretation of the world today and an escape from reality, it is also an escape for my brain to explore and unravel in the possibilities of the seemingly peculiar, unlikely, and unfamiliar.
Eventually I transitioned to visual art, specifically painting. Painting found me when I needed it the most and renewed my love for creating in a whole new way. With every brushstroke, I fell more in love with the art form. I became obsessed with what paint allowed me to say that words could not do justice for. The visual arts relit the flame of creativity and expression that theatre gave me when I was younger. Through sculpting, drawing, and especially painting, I could take a blank canvas and transform it into a work of art through my brightly colored brushstrokes. It became natural for me to create, wanting nothing more than to make art for people to view, ponder, question, find inspiration in, and admire. I wanted to create beautiful worlds to escape to.
I constantly find myself wanting to escape. Whether it be to a far-off land that I have never been to or even back to past moments in my life. I find peace and satisfaction depicting such scenes. Just as I brought to life characters and their stories through acting, I try to bring to life scenes and moments in time through various types of visual art media. For example, a piece “Living on the Edge” depicts a girl sitting on the edge of a cliff looking over. It captures a moment and gives the viewer the opportunity to experience and feel what the main character in the painting is feeling. We also see this in “Sherbert Skies in Her Eyes.” This piece is of me in front of a beach sunset in San Diego, California inspired by the first trip I took to visit my dad after he had moved to the sunshine state. I find serenity in this scene and it brings me back to this moment every time I revisit it. These are just two examples of many of my works that all showcase an escape in some way. I am inspired by surrealism and my brain is attracted to juxtaposition. This motivation can be seen in my piece titled “The World Unknown.” While this piece is an interpretation of the world today and an escape from reality, it is also an escape for my brain to explore and unravel in the possibilities of the seemingly peculiar, unlikely, and unfamiliar.
"Living on the Edge"
Chalk Pastel, Oil Pastel 18"h X 24"w Fall 2017 |
"The World Unknown"
Oil Paint 20"h X 20"w Fall 2014 |
"Sherbert Skies in Her Eyes"
Oil Paint 18"h X 24"w Spring 2016 |
I also experience this theme of escapism in my artistic process. I feel as though I am escaping when I create. Sometimes I am so invested in my work that I even forget where I am or what time it is. I have had moments where someone will tap me on the shoulder from behind or begin speaking to me and it startles me to the point that I jump so that my hand holding my utensil hits my artwork. This is because I was far off in my own world, no longer just in a room making art. I had escaped while making my art and I let myself feel that moment in time that I was depicting. Art is and always has been my escape.
-Alexis Gruber
-Alexis Gruber