Beginner’s Mind | Artist Statement

To be an artist is to have a ​“beginner’s mind,” a mind open to limitless pathways in the creative act and is not impaired by the limitations of being an expert. In working with children, particularly young children, it is astonishing to watch the ease and pleasure with which making and creating takes place. The results are often equally astonishing. Many adults find drawing an impossibility or a terribly vulnerable act. Even seasoned artists find themselves working hard to regain this state of freedom to play in their art practice. Very quickly, even as teens, we begin the process of endless comparisons in our work. Rather than accessing the expansiveness of our creative faculties, we seek to copy or create resemblances to other things, bypassing the opportunity to look within and without with new eyes. This exhibition rests as a reminder for us to take a fresh look at our young teacher’s perspectives and practices – to start over again, and begin to playfully re-engage our world with pictures never yet seen before.

The Beginner’s Mind exhibit features three bodies of work: Christopher Elam of Omosaico Studios with Mosaic ​‘translations’ of his son Felix’s drawings, Christie Cooper Ceramics will show a sampling of her work alongside some student creations, and a collection of works from emerging young artists in the community.