MARK DEMOTT
Artist Statement

"i am looking for a way" 

This series is a meditation on my life at the time these paintings were created. Where do I find meaning? Where does my connection to the world and myself lie? Where does my success get measured - in the eyes of others or from my true self? Am I looking to get away from something or move towards something else - is it the same thing?
I am looking for a way...

The process of creating these paintings was a repetitive action of coming to the canvases again and again with an open heart. Letting the questions hover in the room without fear of the feelings that might be provoked. Through this action the paintings revealed themselves to me - finding their home in the group and letting the questions find a home in me.
I am looking for a way... 

Words in paintings:

i am looking for a way out
i am looking for a way in
        inside this fragile frame
i am looking for a way out
i am looking for a way in
        gently finding a home
i am looking for a way out
i am looking for a way in 

"hustler"

In my life, I have been a hustler. The experiences have become etched into my soul like the paintings themselves -  a layering of conscious decisions and repetitive actions.  The paintings begin to reveal emotional wounds, the inner discourse - my insides turned out.  Each painting was created using the same set of  handmade stencils.  They are numbered in the order in which they were painted.  As the stencils were used again and again, they began to decay, rip, fill in, and change form.  By the last painting, some stencils were virtually unusable - much like the experiences that led me to create them.  Color choices were based on the range of feelings that came up throughout this process.  Some paintings are spare and empty; others full and chaotic.  The surface of the paintings are sensual, and at times, vulgar with texture.  This body of work has become a source of emotional redemption and creative growth.