ANALYSIS PARALYSIS
Definition - Overthinking or over-analyzing to the point where decision and action does not happen.
High-Fire Porcelain. Approx. 12" Height x 6 & 3/4" Diameter
AN ARTIST STATEMENT
I tend to dwell in my head. I think and think and think. I dislike taking action unless I have a plan, but at the same time if I think too much, I do not feel like doing anything. There is a sweet spot when it comes to inspiration that I have difficulty finding. In this manner, creativity is an agonizing and almost maddening endeavour for me.
THE STORY
Going into the semester of my 2019 BFA show, I scrapped previous plans and decided to do something new. Advice from teachers and instructors pulled me in different directions. Some were telling me to play it safe and don’t do anything crazy. Others said to embrace the uncertainty, with others further saying that this was a time to explore and grow. This resulted in me wandering in circles in my mind, coming up with a few partial ideas but still staring at an empty work area. With time fading and almost half the semester through, It wasn’t until I took a hike with friends did things start to come together. I vented my struggles to a friend who sympathized and said that he too struggled from analysis paralysis. And then it clicked. I thought, I need to make work about my struggles with creativity - that elusive place between thinking and just making - planning and no planning - the scary place in the mind where things both exist and do not until action is taken.
FIRST OF TWO
Analysis Paralysis is about me letting go of thinking and all about making with feeling. The results have therefore taken an appropriately organic look. I had been previously working with molds - using tinier forms and shapes to imply the surface of the mold rather than a straight casting. I didn’t like them. Perhaps this is why I gravitated to this method. I didn’t think too much about it, though - I couldn’t. It was time to just make and whatever happened, happened.
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