Archive: Workshop your Artist Statement!

[Memet Burnett]

Born in Auckland, NZ in 1966, but living in Western Canada since 1971,  Memet Burnett is an emerging sculptor, painter, writer, film-maker and photographer whose work casts a whimsical eye on the natural and imagined worlds and the beings therein. Burnett’s artistic leanings began as a small child taking pottery classes with her mother and her hands have been filled with brushes, pens, crayons, sculpting and pin tools ever since. While getting her MEDes and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and subsequently raising her children,  she documented her life by camera and film continuously, which developed her eye for detail and story. Her Masters in Environmental Design solidified a profound understanding of her place in the world, and studying and working as a vet gave her a unique understanding of and love for animal forms and  psyches.  Largely self-taught, Burnett has taken photography, encaustic, figurative drawing and painting classes, as well as many ceramic sculpting workshops with such celebrated BC and international ceramists as Bob Kingsmill, Billy Rae Mangham, Elaine Brewer-White and Sarah Pike.

Burnett’s work is included in local, national, and international private collections. She has had pieces accepted into and sold through the juried Sooke (B.C.) Fine Arts show. She won “Honourable Mention” for her photograph “Symmetry” from the Metchosin Days Photography Contest in 2016.  She has had a series of articles published in the Metchosin Muse under the umbrella title “Wild Green Children” and has had numerous photos published in the same newspaper. She is a founding member of the Juan de Fuca Pottery Group operating out of the Westshore Recreation Centre. She also plays fiddle in Folkestra and leads a Ukulele circle: the Metchosin Uke Jammers.

Currently, Memet Burnett is working on private commissions, finishing her “Safari” and “Totem Animal” print series, and is preparing a new print series entitled “Travels” for future exhibition. In addition, her clay population of “Wall People” continue to grow with “Bacchus” and “Murray II” emerging from the heat of the kiln shortly. Her other ceramic tile art series “Play with Me”, featuring musicians from her life is also being expanded.

[Memet Burnett]

Oops– I realize that I posted my BIO above, not an Artists Statement. Though I have tried to edit/ remove it, that seems to not be possible. So here instead is an attempt at what was ACTUALLY asked for:

I have a deep-seated interest in the world and the polarities that bring it into rich being: natural/ fantastical, human/ animal, figurative/ landscape, technological/ biological. My art reflects this continual fascination with the edge that divides– there is beauty there, and humour. As a retired veterinarian who has dissected animals for my training and euthanized animals as part of my work, I feel called to bring something light, joyful and colourful into the world, to bring the world more into balance.

[Deleted User]

hi Memet

What do i know but i think it’s good. That is, i have never seen your work, but reading your statement actually made me very curious and wanting to see your art. And that’s the idea, i think.

[Memet Burnett]

OK. In lieu of a full website, which *may* take me a little more time than I have today, I have put some images up in My Gallery, linked to My Profile.

[Anahata Ishaya]

I love your colourful animal imagery Memet. Makes me want to get a pet again! I am full with the love you have for my country’s sentient animals as I am Canadian living in Christchurch, NZ, your first country and gobbling up every beautiful moment being here.

[sandrajordan]

Hi Memet, Do you have a website? I couldn’t see one on your profile, would like to have a look before I make any comments on the statement.

[Memet Burnett]

I do not have a proper website in place yet– just a blog really which is not very current and is geared more to friends and family than “the public”. Setting up an awesome, functional and informative website is something I am hoping to develop through this course actually! I appreciate that an artists statement without the art is somewhat pointless…(though that was what was asked for). I will see if I can get my blog updated in a timely fashion, or at least get some more current pieces up on it. It seems you are not the only one who prefers to see things before commenting.

[doug]

Hi Memet

I think your last sentence is particularly strong. Wonder if you added a sentence towards the beginning that would help us to experience what you are saying.
Doug

[Crista Cloutier]

Hi Memet,  I want to chime in on your statement too.

I really like it. However, the words “dissect and euthanize” have the exact opposite effect on the reader that what you want your work to bring. You might consider abstracting it, for example, “as someone who has seen the worst of animal suffering” or something like that.

[terry.lee.crump]

Please make comments on my first go at an artist statement. My work can be seen in my profile/gallery. Thanks

Artist Statement

I paint the way I do because it gives me great joy. I revel in breaking the rules of conventional composition, giving negative space a place of importance, and hanging abstract art elements on, often incongruous, subjects. I love the development of visual chaos running rampant on the canvas. I love even more the exhaustive task of bringing all the painting’s components under control for a satisfactory result – the only thing that counts in art. There is no other way for me to paint.

Each painting presents its own unique challenges. Most often I forge ahead with only a flash of an idea or a snippet from life and slowly build the painting by working over the whole surface of the canvas. I continually add subjects, lines, shapes and color unconcerned with illusory representation.

Sometimes a fortuitous narrative creeps into play. Sometimes the only evident story is the process itself. Through it all, I have newfound freedoms and a heightened confidence to follow my creative instincts. My goal is to entice the viewer to find joy in my work and to take a second look, to find something interesting and unexpected, maybe a shred of meaning.

I have many art heroes. Those most influential to my current efforts are Gauguin, for his color sense, Matisse for color and composition, and contemporary Spanish artist, Jose Merello for his unabashed powerful expressionist work. I think there is room to develop some unique and creative expressions upon their shoulders.

 

[Deleted User]

Hi Terry thanks for sharing your statement. When I then looked at your work I couldn’t believe how magnificently colourful it was! It would be great if you could include some of this vibrancy and light in a descriptive way when you speak about your work in the statement. What inspires the different images and where does all the life come from in your work? I would love to know more…

[terry.lee.crump]

Thanks Lily for your comments and suggestions. I will try to work them into my statement.