Artist Statement

  Since reading Ellen Dissanayake's statement that “art is about making something special,” I have been hunting for forms, performances, drawings, and poetic concepts that invite my viewers to move from daily life into a sacred time and space. In that space, everything is connected and knowledge transfers from one place to another with silent understanding. Natural cycles and biological forms frequently enter my work to inform about environmental and emotional conflicts, and celebrate how in spite of repeated struggles, there are still moments of transcendence. At this point in my career my art is integral to my spirituality, which is integral to how I look at social justice issues and interpretation of history. My art reflects this by drawing on natural forms, using recycled materials, and by blending of the languages of academic nature drawing, expressionism, and personal narrative. I believe in subjective worldviews, and that the best way to work beyond your own subjectivity is by working with others. I frequently collaborate with other visual artists, actors, dancers, musicians, and my students, adding drawn, painted, and sculpted elements to their ideas, or guiding them with my own questions about what makes existence sacred.

 

Biography

Zac Lawhon is a Colorado born artist-educator living and working in Baltimore. He graduated from MICA with a BFA in General Fine Arts (2011), and a Master of Arts in Teaching (2012). He spent 8 years as an art teacher in Baltimore, and has recently been working as a gardener with Good Earth Gardeners in Annapolis. He is also building his own art business and priestessing rituals with Baltimore Reclaiming.