Artist Statement

I use portraiture to discuss the connection between someone's physical and spiritual identities. The physical self is often represented by a face, while the spiritual self utilizes more complex identifiers. These identifiers include such things as thoughts in the form of words or sound, emotions and personalities in the form of facial expressions or gestural brushstrokes, memories and ideas in the form of video inlays and projections, histories and relationships in the form of openable books and boxes, and numerous other intangible scenarios via metaphor and material.

I became interested in the self/self relationship because I didn't fully understand it. Who am I? What is my purpose? Where did I come from? Would the world be the same without me? How is it possible that I am alive? What does it mean to be human, and so on.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Craig Paul Nowak: Le Petite Prince

48x60, mixed media, 2009