Avery Gutierrez: When the Shadow Meets the Light Gallery 5, 03/07/2022–03/10/2022 Advisors: Works in the Exhibit

Artist's Statement

I believe we are all multitudinous beings capable of many talents, the need to limit ourselves to one thing only hinders us. This is where my experimental practice stems from. My works include various amounts of symbolism and magical realism which are inspired by my practice of tarot and knowledge of astrology as well as artists such as Rodel Tapaya, Hito Steyrel, and Anila Quayyum Agha. The mediums I use range from digital media such as illustration, HTML, and projection, to painting and sculpture. I enjoy creating art on important topics occurring in the world as well as my own personal experiences. Art is a therapeutic outlet for me that allows me to present viewers with different emotions and experiences and allows me to creatively communicate with those who view my artwork. I believe art is another form of communication and I would like to creatively present viewers with my perspective and experiences on different topics, hoping they will see themselves within my art. Exhibiting When the Shadow Meets the Light in gallery 5 will give this piece the opportunity to immersive viewers through sounds and visuals which enhance the main theme of the piece.

At the time of the pandemic, I was looking for creative and therapeutic outlets, and thus When the Shadow Meets the Light was created. This piece contains shadow work prompts that are directly taken from my shadow work journal. (shadow work is a form of psychological self-examination. Working with your ‘shadow’ can lead anyone to a more fulfilling, authentic, and emotionally freeing life by discovering where emotions and habits stem from and facing suppressed emotions and past traumas.) I decided to use multiple 5x7 inch canvases because they were similar to the size of my shadow work journal book. The combination of the 5x7 canvases side by side enlarges the work by combining all the words and imagery into one piece but still manages to keep each canvas individual and unique from the other. I emphasize the positive words on the canvases from my shadow work journal by using different color paint that works well with the changing LED lights. The emphasis on the positive words and the happy imagery in this work symbolizes finding the positives in a difficult time of healing. The implementation of the projector displaying my writing of the process of my journal prompts brings great insight to the processes using sounds symbolizing certain moments of my own healing process. The sound of the water droplets symbolizes moments tears were shed, the faint hum symbolizes moments of realization during certain moments while doing these prompts, and the low meditation music symbolizes a state of healing.

I turned my shadow work journal prompts into this piece to show the genuine emotions behind a mental and emotional healing process, to introduce a method of healing that may benefit others, and to hopefully have the viewers see themselves within my art, to let them know that they are not alone in a process that isn’t linear or easy but is definitely worth it in the end. The art process of this piece gave me a chance to reconnect with myself, recognize what I need to release emotionally and physically, and help me understand the importance of bringing balance into my life. We should be grateful and learn from our shadows because they exist due to the presence of our light.