Patricia Van Asperen
I hope that a sense of peace is found in my work, where ideas flow slowly through the lines and images of the work, patterns become recognizable, and understandable. I’ve never found the need for emotional release in work, rather I seek to create a strong sense of peace, continuity and a strong desire to understand the unpredictability of the world and its affects on the psychology of being human. I try to come to terms with the contrasts we are presented with in living, that push us to find ways to cling to our time here, integrate with it and find, finally perhaps find balance.
I often feel caught between that early simple acceptance of what this
world offers, its joys and beauty and I spend more time questioning the
way things are and the complexity, incongruity and negativity that asks me to
act. As we grow in knowledge, we can easily get entirely lost in the demands of roles,
we have chosen to take on in the culture, lifestyle and the practical needs of everyday life.
It may take us years to sort through it all, to find a place where all that imput can be organized in
a way that makes sense. There is point where we need to stop for a while and regain a perspective that
sets us outside the complexity of all of this, and I seek to do this with my art. When the questions living
poses seem overwhelming, as an artist, I almost intuitively need to channel some of those questions
into my work. By digging in and finding ways to work within the limitations of the physical laws of this
world, I get a better understanding of what is possible and remove myself from the battle of emotions and intellect that goes on endlessly around me. I love the peace I find in the process of making; dicovering the qualities and potential of different materials, and creating messes that only sometimes result in refined and lovely things. Like a moving meditation, it teaches me how to focus on the moment and gives me a perspective about my place here.
