1985 (Artist Statement Part 1/2) An installation of dreamy pin-up drawings from 1985.

On May 18th, 1985, after celebrating my 11th birthday, I sat down at my desk that had the map of the world on it and started to draw. I drew the pin-ups that covered my bedroom walls with Duran Duran, Wham!, Ricky Schroder, John Stamos, and basically whoever graced the pages of Bop, 16, Teen Beat, Super Teen and Tiger Beat magazines. In this installation I’ve chosen to display the first 61 drawings that spanned from May to December of 1985. I chose them because they represent the pure innocence of not following any type of instruction other then what I saw on the page of the magazine. I can’t draw like that anymore and that is what is so special about them. They look very simple, even bad, but in a good way because they are so free from any type of limitations and rules. They’re like kids who don’t worry about everyday things like adults do.

(image: Detail of Drawing (Ricky Schroder), 8"x10", Graphite on paper, 1985)

My current artwork is focused on the Volkswagen beetle, which is an alter ego of myself, and the narratives in the work are biographically based. They carry years of personal trials, where the 1985 drawings don’t. Just like my obsessive relationship with using the beetle for 11 years, you can see the same type of relationship I had with these drawings. As I look at them I see what I felt back then which was the same type of comfort and security I currently do with my artwork today.

(image: White Picket Fence No.1 (Detail), mixed media on wood panel, 2010)