My Artist Statements, Cliff Derksen
Cliff Derksen Artist Statement, April, 2018
I have been drawing since I can remember! It was noticed early as I doodled all over my scribblers, a definite teacher’s “no no”! Then in my early grades I was invited to draw Christmas decorations for school on the blackboard with colored chalk. I was on my way, and art became an ever present “thing” throughout my life, drawing, illustrating books and newsletters, doing cartoons, graphic arts, photography, painting and ceramic art, sculpting with clay.
A second career track in my life has been the pastoral ministry, pastoring, preaching, camp directing, speaking to kids, leading men’s Bible studies, etc. almost always with the aid of my drawings, paintings, illustrations and/or photography in the inevitable power points I would create to illustrate, echo and speak alongside my own words.
Today is my coming out party where the pieces on display illustrate how the two have finally come together in a new and exciting way for me. Now, there are no words, just images! Each one is Biblically inspired and prayerfully created to encourage an inner spirit led conversation for every viewer.
My prayer is that your soul be touched today.
I have been drawing since I can remember! It was noticed early as I doodled all over my scribblers, a definite teacher’s “no no”! Then in my early grades I was invited to draw Christmas decorations for school on the blackboard with colored chalk. I was on my way, and art became an ever present “thing” throughout my life, drawing, illustrating books and newsletters, doing cartoons, graphic arts, photography, painting and ceramic art, sculpting with clay.
A second career track in my life has been the pastoral ministry, pastoring, preaching, camp directing, speaking to kids, leading men’s Bible studies, etc. almost always with the aid of my drawings, paintings, illustrations and/or photography in the inevitable power points I would create to illustrate, echo and speak alongside my own words.
Today is my coming out party where the pieces on display illustrate how the two have finally come together in a new and exciting way for me. Now, there are no words, just images! Each one is Biblically inspired and prayerfully created to encourage an inner spirit led conversation for every viewer.
My prayer is that your soul be touched today.
Artist Statement # 2:
Artistic Statement: Cliff Derksen May 2017
We all agree that imagination is integral in artistic creation, be it music, poetry, writing, or as in this case art.
Many of us have had the experience of growing up in an environment where imagination was downplayed, minimised or even discouraged. Possibly we’ve been told as I was that imagination was bad, out of control and a waste of time.
Yet I am here because of imagination. My very existence as to who I am today has to do with what happened in my imagination. That includes both my spiritual and artistic life. What a turnaround this has be thought-out my life.
My goal in this art show to communicate through imagination the basic truths and pillars of life and how we live it, inspired by my expression through visual art of who I am as a human being, body, soul mind and spirit.
Secondly, my goal is to spark and engage the imagination of those who come to see my art. We all have one of these you know, an imagination that is! I hope to encourage yours as the viewer and to allow yourself to be played so to speak by what you see, feel, think and emote as you search out truths you see in the art before you. Not only mine, but also in all the art in this room, as a whole, as communicated by each artist and also each piece that you see.
In 2010 after I moved into my Clifton studio I exploded with creative energy, working in clay, creating ceramic sculptures. It’s undeniable that a basic underlying influence is my theological training, Biblical characters appearing here and there. Another huge influence in my art is the loss of our 13 year old daughter who was murdered in 1984. Beginning with the 2010 Preliminary Hearing my artistic activities were kick started into a kind of frenetic level.
My creative process usually begins with a question or issue, My imagination becomes engaged as I look for an image or metaphor I can express in clay. It is in the "whole process" of sculpting the piece that these issues begin to get "processed." As the piece progresses, I gain new perspectives and understandings. The piece then becomes a visual testimony of an active imagination, change, healing and growth. This healing aspect of art has been a huge surprise to me. Now as I think back, this process of creative imagination has been integral to the measure of emotional health I've been able to maintain in dealing with the curve balls life has thrown at me.
My hope is my work will engage your imagination, resulting in creative endeavors. For I have come to understand that freedom to imagine is healing. So, let's get creative!
We all agree that imagination is integral in artistic creation, be it music, poetry, writing, or as in this case art.
Many of us have had the experience of growing up in an environment where imagination was downplayed, minimised or even discouraged. Possibly we’ve been told as I was that imagination was bad, out of control and a waste of time.
Yet I am here because of imagination. My very existence as to who I am today has to do with what happened in my imagination. That includes both my spiritual and artistic life. What a turnaround this has be thought-out my life.
My goal in this art show to communicate through imagination the basic truths and pillars of life and how we live it, inspired by my expression through visual art of who I am as a human being, body, soul mind and spirit.
Secondly, my goal is to spark and engage the imagination of those who come to see my art. We all have one of these you know, an imagination that is! I hope to encourage yours as the viewer and to allow yourself to be played so to speak by what you see, feel, think and emote as you search out truths you see in the art before you. Not only mine, but also in all the art in this room, as a whole, as communicated by each artist and also each piece that you see.
In 2010 after I moved into my Clifton studio I exploded with creative energy, working in clay, creating ceramic sculptures. It’s undeniable that a basic underlying influence is my theological training, Biblical characters appearing here and there. Another huge influence in my art is the loss of our 13 year old daughter who was murdered in 1984. Beginning with the 2010 Preliminary Hearing my artistic activities were kick started into a kind of frenetic level.
My creative process usually begins with a question or issue, My imagination becomes engaged as I look for an image or metaphor I can express in clay. It is in the "whole process" of sculpting the piece that these issues begin to get "processed." As the piece progresses, I gain new perspectives and understandings. The piece then becomes a visual testimony of an active imagination, change, healing and growth. This healing aspect of art has been a huge surprise to me. Now as I think back, this process of creative imagination has been integral to the measure of emotional health I've been able to maintain in dealing with the curve balls life has thrown at me.
My hope is my work will engage your imagination, resulting in creative endeavors. For I have come to understand that freedom to imagine is healing. So, let's get creative!