[Michal Tkachenko]

This is my current artist statement for two particular series that I have done.

Metal Head

I packed my bags and boarded a plane to Haiti to live and work as the pharmacist in a small hospital of a village called Limbé. I was a teenager with no pharmacy background. Upon arrival, the new president was sworn into power and life dissolved into a series of military coups, evacuations of foreigners, machete attacks and the complete disintegration of law and order. I stayed put through it all and survived. Then came the blow: a car accident in the Haitian countryside that would kill the person next to me, shatter my skull and half of my face, leaving me with three permanent, stainless-steel plates in my head. These are my markers.

Years after Haiti, I passed by a mirror and caught sight of my reflection. The fractures and misalignments were evident, and suddenly aware of how stripped-down life is, it seemed vital to reflect and re-look. The Metal Head series comes through continuous hours in front of a mirror, face-mapping for signs and markers that follow a journey.

[Michal Tkachenko]

Hello, TaLisa. Thanks for being the daring first to post your artist statement. I find them really hard to write myself.

I just read your artist statement without looking at your work. I will look, but sometimes I find it fun to get an image of what I think work might look like from the artist statement. Off the top of my head you leave me wanting way more! That is good and better than wanting way less. Throughout, I want more specifics about your family and cultural background that you talk about. All I can do is look at your profile photo and try to guess what it might be. It would give the viewer something really tangible to relate and link into your work with. Don’t be too safe by keeping everything general. What is universal beauty? Can you specifically describe it? Just substitute your description for those words. What specific types of flowers and arrangements and how do you incorporate it into your work? is typography just intriguing or does it inform your work? You mention a lot of things that seem to influence your work and it would be great to hear you really state them in a way which you are confidently in charge and the leading world expert in how they link in. Don’t sound hesitant about it. The last sentence I would leave out the words expressive, soulful, and sophisticated and let the viewer make those assumptions. Is that too overwhelming?

The main two points are: be specific and avoid generalities. Be really confidant and add a bit of ego in there. The hardest part is writing something in the first place and it is much easier to shape something that already exists.

Thank you again for taking that first step!