Surrayyah Chestnut's Custom Designs

Telvin Wallace

Artist

Art is a conduit for sharing thoughts and ideas. Our imagination has the power to change one’s perception of reality and open viewers to new ideas.  Although society may not change in an instant by art, its insipid spread into the active part of our minds will stimulate creativity.

My work questions the enigmatic connotations of our reality by allowing the audience to peer through my lens and my perception of reality. I have the natural urge to create art from the inside out; to make visible the hidden feelings, attitudes, and functionings of everyday life that are influenced by illnesses or traumatic events.  Without proper treatment, a person’s mental and physical health can fluctuate, causing substantial changes. These changes create a feeling of desolation that not only affects the individual in the composition, but also the world around them. This dystopia is the subject matter of my art.

I have two purposes in creating art. First, is to create art in order to externalize, process, and articulate my subject’s feelings. I feel that it’s the most effective way to investigate one’s internal feelings and reactions to their health, while also basing my own artwork on research. Typically when I approach my work, I sense a form of engagement between that which what I know and that which I hope to find - that between these two areas of desire stretches a zone of conflict, a place of anxiety to which Sigmund Freud refers. The result is an image that transcends the original idea, while taking on a life of its own. I use my personal and heartfelt work as a cathartic release.  Art helps me discover me, and I hope that it helps my audience do the same. My work brings me closer to finding my sense of self, emotions, thoughts, and feelings associated with physical and mental health. My second purpose is to educate others and attempt to cultivate empathy, regarding the challenges that people face and endure, surrounding health.

When I make a painting, I am building a psychologically charged space. I usually start off with a few sketches that familiarize me with the problems I will encounter in the final work. My technique varies based on the content of my subject matter. Indirect methods appear and can be utilized at any time in the course of a paintings development. Look at the pentimento that we find in a Da Vinci, Titian, or Caravaggio painting. They repainted, but still maintained the ultimate balance. Ultimately, I develop my own techniques to come up with a unique visual language and aesthetic.