STARR PAGE

About the Artist

~~Starr Page is a Baltimore based visual essayist who contemplates the contemporary image as the major focus in her work. She creates through scribbling and twisting and interlacing lines and from this mass of procreative shapes a vital expression is released expressing an involution of images. She enjoys delving into the psychological mind and is a huge fan of the outsider artist. Page has her masters from Western Illinois University and completed an internship at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute-MCI. She has exhibited in group and solo shows in Illinois, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.

Artist's Statement

The best words I have remembered so far to express “who am I as an Artist” would be the following “The artist is nothing without the gift but the gift is nothing without the work” Oscar Wilde. The point herein to me means that I can claim to be an “Artist” however, if I am not practicing the work and sharing then am I truly an Artist. I have a difficult time in identifying with the label “Artist” For me that carry’s many hats, as I am a writer, educator, visual essayist, curator, and designer, and when I have a pencil and watercolors in my hand am I then the artist? What is an artist is a question I am examining because each day in every way I try to express myself and be the best person that I can be to create in a way that makes a difference for me and for those I am in contact with. Like teaching I am always unsure -when I create- in whatever genre that I will resonate with others in what I am doing or what I need to say. Still when I create I have no fear, I am willing to travel into the unknown, willing to take the chance to see… I am not clear where my art fits in but for sure I know that it is not conventional. Whether starting from a blank canvas or blank paper it is just space, it is a space, my space, which I feel quite comfortable in to create whatever wants to arrive. I am aware however that my art provides a window into the beautiful images in my head. I love lines and squiggles and scratches that appear in my works. The forms take their own shape and I just follow along. Sometimes the images are small and simple sometimes they are large and simple and sometimes they are more complicated in form and size. My work consists primarily of images/drawings created with pen and watercolor, sometimes markers and in my large works I use oil or acrylic. Still I am not sure that I am an “artist”, I do not know but I do know that my goal is to help build confidence, and develop deeper appreciation and understanding by facilitating learning through the arts. That the exploration of concepts, processes, and values can be explored through production, aesthetics, and criticism. A world of knowledge can be learned through interpreting art and deriving meaning from works by reading, writing, and viewing, creating, and developing. This builds a healthy respect for both one’s own growth and their peers. The other words I remember are “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Edgar Degas True.