MIKEL ELAM – ARTIST STATEMENT

THE MODERN PRIMITIVE:

A. The merging of classical influences with primitive icons.

B. The transition of painting and drawing collage and deconstruction.

C. Mark making with devices like ball point pens, sharpies, toothbrushes, pencils, oil pastels, palette knives etc.

D. Surfaces: Canvas, paper, plexiglass and wood.

E. Found materials: Objects like coins from my travels, fabric, assorted papers, wallpaper to name a few.

F. A mixture of images taken from personal photographs, hieroglyphics, paintings from my favorite artist and philosophies passed on through the ages.

G. It is my goal to give prominence to indigenous cultures throughout the world.

Conclusion:

1. I am the artist most of the time and in certain moments I become the subject.

2. Alchemy, incantations, ethereal renderings, emotional content about the human experience.

3. In summary my work is hybrid in form derived in experiences from travel in body to travel within the mind. The emphasis is on a world beat culture and my objective is to merge these idioms to create a new visual language.