Artist's Statement

 Michael(satan[idea]slayer) A.(asshole) Hall(meeting place): Artist(Autist)/Statement(subversion) 

I(my hands) make functional(barely me) pottery(repetition/system) because I want to feel(think, really) like a useful person(whatever that is) to others(necessary/exhausting). 

Pots don’t talk. 

I use the fancy goldfish(obsessed/ancient) as a stand-in(prop) for my identity(what remains) as a–by definition(reassurance/guide)–outsider artist(barred from inclusion) you know, a brut(literally ‘raw, crude’). 

Nobody’s gonna get that. 

The fish says(internal) the words(limited) I think. The flowers(ephemeral) represent(re-present) feelings(incompleteness) that I may or may not have(indescribable) or emotions that could exist. The fancy(not me) goldfish(disregarded) depicted on my work were bred to be looked down on. 

Constant masking to fit in. 

I want the viewer to see how a neurodivergent(different path/valid) mind creates objects in the art-system systematically(not manufacture/processes or rules that work for me). 

I belong here. 

Seeing something with bright(obnoxious/“you’re just really smart, its hard for people to connect to you Michael”) familiar colors and flowers on them lowers the viewer’s affective filter(educational theory); the harshness(that’s on you) of the words(pictures) aren’t universally(nothing is/everything isn’t) associated(cognition) to the images. Familiarity is soothing and reassuring. 

Flowers can’t talk. 

Feelings, I dunno(lots)–feel whatever you want, its valid(validation good)–nothing is universal(wish it was). Thinking(ceaseless), openly. 

Pain is universal. 

Who cares about goldfish(do you?). Stop making this awkward(for you). Don’t tell me how to think(about you). Gourds(universal/vessel) store(absorb) pain(its everywhere). Why would you ever think that was ok(chill)‽ 

Fish don’t talk. 

How am I thinking about ‘art objects’ (Philosophically, I’m into Object Oriented Ontology)? Because I put thoughts(systematic web) and meaning(invented/borrowed/assimilated) into inanimate(me) objects–that makes sense to me(survive). Objects(everything) are vehicles for meaningful connection(required). 

Connections. Materials, ideas, experience, familiarity, and subversion. 

My unfiltered self(too much) is an act of playful subversion(automatic) in the face of the status quo(broken). Greyson Perry(freed) and David Drake(enslaved), created small acts of defiance(change/thought/action) against a static(closed) system–that’s my goal(I like those). 

Lines are lines, red is red, and art is more than painting and sculpture. 

I will guide you what to think, accept it or not (I still love you). 

I just want to fit in. 

I make things that belong(unfamiliar) and subvert(redefine) the status quo(white supremacy/oppressive patriarchy/misplaced glory) of capital-a Art(ouroboros/reformable/reconfigure). Artist statements(reconcile) are hard to write–words(love) are pictures. 

Words are severely limited. 

Look at the objects(them, us, you), look at the words(pictures), and contemplate(meditate) your frame of reference, or don’t–walk away, I don’t belong here if you think I don’t(I belong–I’m staying). 

Deal with it.