“Art of the Future” at the Ardest Gallery

Last night the Ardest Gallery in the Woodlands, TX opened its most recent show titled “Art of the Future”. A good crowd turned out to see what juror and art historian Joseph Staley selected as the final selections among numerous applicants. And I was super pumped to have one of my pieces proudly hanging in the show!

When I first saw the call for “art of the future”, I wasn’t quite sure where to go with it. Often times I will let an art call or prompt ignite my creativity and just see where it takes me. But with this one I couldn’t find direction. And time passed. And passed. Then it was too late to create something brand new.

I decided to go through some of my older works — pieces I haven’t gotten out for a while. And there she was…

“Being a Carnival Freak Is Great, But Expensive”

Weird title. Weird figure. Weird future?

Heck yes. In fact, looking at it now, under this new guise, all I can see is a solemn steampunk warrior from a dystopian replicant future. Makes more sense now then it did when I made it.

When I made it… gee… that was 2021. I was still living in Chicago. Still running the gym every day. I had one hour each night to decompress with my craft.

The pose came directly from a pile of comic book covers with similar staging for its eye-hooking cover art. I sketched out the pose and then, instead of rendering the figure realistically with musculature and clothing, I decided to just fill in the spaces with shapes. Random. Squiggles. Doodles.

A little this way. A little that way. All a part of my deconstructing puzzle pieces.

And after a while… I thought it looked cool.

Liking it enough, I framed it and put it on a wall. I did it because I thought it looked cool and looking at it I thought to myself, I might be able to sell art some day. I put that piece up on a wall to remind me to work hard to get what I want.

And now that very piece is on a real art gallery wall. It was juried into a show. I made that dream come true.

And it’s only just beginning! Holla!

Meanwhile, this piece is on view and for sale via the Ardest Gallery. You can contact the gallery directly for inquires.

Do you believe in manifesting your desires into reality? How do YOU do it? Tell me in the comments!