Jessica Kristoff
Member Since November 2012
Artist Statement I have always experienced the essence of the divine which has reflected itself in my desire and ability to embrace the many faces of nature. My art emerges as a resource to help me integrate my thoughts, emotions, will, and spirit while a more realistic or whole perspective of reality becomes ever present.
Being born in the United States has meant growing within a concept of the changing narrative of the "American Dream" along with deciphering my own personal morals and values that developed out of my immediate family, secondary caregivers and personal experiences with God and nature. Ideas that revolved around the beautiful things that “America” has represented to so many people….fresh air, opportunities, a good education, the desire to have children, a strong work ethic, fresh food grown by loving people, a diverse land of dreamers etc..
Through the filters of the media, my formal education and while living in my limited scope of life, I have lived and breathed in an imaginary community...grasping but an ounce of truth while working towards a cloudy goal which seems clearer at times. I have accepted that I must release impressions of a world that no longer exists do to overpopulation in order to make needed changes because when I am placed among the millions, collectively I have become a threat to my own existence, an abuser of animals, and a polluter of nature. Life sounds so grim when you put it this way and I hate to be negative.
Through the variety of experiences that abstractly represent cycles of birth and death in my life I have practiced the skills of contemplation, self- awareness, mindfulness and purposeful living. I have reflected on what "FREEDOM" is and how the many cultures of the world embody this liberty while working towards respecting the natural world. I now recognize the numerous contradictions that being human lends itself to; tolerance, acceptance, hope and faith( I hesitate to include “FAITH” because to some it is a word of confrontation) are the only solutions that I have at the moment.
I am a witness to the art that the divine produces through my senses. I am an observer and a participant of my life, the lives of others, the earth and how we sustain this process of existence in unity. I ask myself what it truly means to be "HUMANE".
My art is the process and the product of my evolving perspective of the dualistic experiences of living in a physical world littered with the murky colors of disillusionment and the enhanced vibrance of momentous clarity. I'm a progressive artist that sincerely works at utilizing the limitations of the written word along with the perfectly imperfect images that I capture and facilitate. The human ethos is really less complicated than it seems......I keep telling myself that keeping it "REAL" is an art in and of itself!
Thank you for sharing your time with me,
- Jessica Kristoff
Please visit www.farmsanctuary.org to learn more about how you can protect food animals and the environment while restoring the sanctity of the "American" dinner table......dinner tables of " the world" for that matter.
Copyright © 2014 Jessica Kristoff - All Rights Reserved .These are Rights-Managed Images, protected by copyright. My images do not belong to the public domain. Images may not be reproduced, downloaded, distributed, transmitted, copied, reproduced in derivative works, displayed, published or broadcast by any means or in any form without prior written consent from me, the artist, Jessica Kristoff...for further communications about my work please contact me regarding certified limited editions via my e-mail http://www.jessicakristoff@yahoo.com.
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