Rowan Ditslear: capstone

Abstract

The artist's statement: Through my experience with total aphantasia, the inability to recreate one's senses in their mind, I create representations of how I feel when I cannot experience the world internally. Taking a peek into the inner workings of my mind, my art explores the possibilities of visual representation of a mind that cannot see. With surreal larger-than-life self portraits, my work pulls my frustrations with my mind and memories into a physical space by inking onto raw, unstretched canvas. More durable than my own memory, the canvas holds a piece of my mind in a way that I have not been able to visualize it before. With each pen mark and brush stroke, I bring to life obscure feelings and on the nose metaphors in these oversized pieces.