Word Tattoo
I invite you to join me on a journey to explore memories of the future.
a blog by john-michael korpal
Vulnerability
Susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm.
I have learned that when you allow your focus to become restricted it is very easy to lose touch with everything else that surrounds your experience.
My desire for my art is to share my story, one that helps an individual feel safe: to explore their story, their dreams and maybe even find comfort in sharing their fears. I want them to be safe in exploring their vulnerability. In my artwork I create a space that drifts between reality and a dream world, one that is free from outside judgments, limitations and expectations.
Many individuals grow up with the understanding that to be vulnerable is to be weak, fragile or to be “less” then. My understanding now is that allowing oneself to be vulnerable is to be human and open to the experiences of life’s opportunities for growth. This lookout unclutters one’s mind to acknowledge concepts of diverse philosophies and experience the magnitude of life.
When you allow yourself to be vulnerable your walls of protection are incapacitated and although this can be a very scary place to visit, if you are able to relax into it and see the experience without darken it with your shadow of personal misconceptions, it can allow you the opportunity to expand your comfort zones and compassion for yourself. Your only limits are those that you are willing to accept.
I spent this weekend traveling back into my past, revisiting moments where I felt vulnerable and exploring what surrounded those situations. Trying to understand how I made sense out of them in the moment and my (re)actions. This allowed me the good fortune to land back on my feet, feeling safe and protected. I realized that without these situations I would have averted some wonderful opportunities of growth. This is what I want to be able to co-create thru my work, an ability to connect with people.
This holds me accountable as well as I approach my personal world with the same intent as I place on my viewers, as I am only 50% of this equation.
You may not be able to control what happens, but you can control how it affects you.
Art Is Not…
PROCESS ~ Artistic & Otherwise
In the studio today…. a different focus, intent and expectation.
It has been a day of silencing the noise of the world while switching focus to a quiet reflection as I search inward listening to my inner voice. It has been a refreshing but also an uncomfortable experience. My journey into the art world has deepened this year as I have come to understanding a new definition and respect for the word ”process”
Process is not linear nor is it something that is easy to measure. This weekend was one that was filled with many Pride related events and normally I want to be part of these and enjoy the energy and excitement …this year my desire was to to pull within.
I create my art, as a means to offer an opportunity to share an intimate moment of time where the individual and my art are one and then the moment is gone. The art remains unchanged, but my intention is that the individual has changed, even if only on some molecular level appreciating something in a different light.
*Flashback*
When I was growing up I maintained a very strong understanding of what colors meant to me…. and I do not know where this thinking came from, but as far as I can remember it was there from my beginning.
Blue= calm
Red=anger
Yellow=fear
Blue+ Yellow = Green= growth
Blue + Red = Purple =love
Red + Yellow = Orange = sexual (not the same as sex)
It is through these that I have come to understand balance while working on my paintings. If you have ever wondered why there is very little of the color red represented in my work… this is why.
So to explore this… the past three days I have eaten my lunch from a red bowl as a representation of what I ingest not only physically, but also physiologically and emotionally from the world. While taking the food into my body that provides the strength allowing me to function throughout the day I question my diet as I explore my concepts about red and what anger is. What it means to me, why I hold on to it and why sometimes I feel it in the depth of my bones and the need to free myself from its constraints.
What have I learned? That my anger stems from moments that I handed over my power and self worth to individuals that had no right to that. During my mediations I have investigated what that felt like and how it informed me as an individual. I also understand now that it did not serve me well back then and it definitely does not serve me well to bring that into my present time. There is a strong responsibility for me to remove that cord that attached me to those feelings of the past.
Thoughts and feelings only have the power that you allow them, if you remove that power, they dissipate.
Things are ever changing, but if you hold on to a past belief system it is difficult to move forward. So for me now, red is less angry and more about red hot energy that is available in my world to help me create… because a world that is limited by your choice is limiting your potential.
… and as I said in the beginning, process is not a logical progression of thoughts and events.
Waking Sleep~ Wake UP!
This was originally written on yellow paper with a blue pen.
Yellow Paper = Fear
Blue Pen = Calmness
Yellow +Blue = Green
Green = Growth
As an artist I am exploring the world using a larger scope. Learning new words and concepts that help me to connect the dots in my world. Things that have happened in the past are here to help me learn and provide movement forward. This is not an attempt to re-invent the wheel, but rather learning to gather different wheels; two or four as the current situation requires helping support the concept, while transferring an idea forward into the future.
I have been fascinated by words lately, text, print and of course spoken words. I find comfort in them but I am in pursuit of a story or content that I have yet to figure out, how to incorporate them into my paintings. The concept that my artwork is only 50% of the equation of the piece, it is the presence of the individual experiencing my work that creates the other 50% and completes the piece as a whole. It is through this union that the art and the individual share a dialog that is privy only to the participants for that brief moment in time. I want to nurture this experience and see what it has to teach me.
In my readings today I came across an individual’s name I had never heard of… and with a little research. I felt an instant connection with him. He had put in words what I strive to express in my art. George Gurdjieff, believed that people cannot perceive reality in their current state because they do not possess consciousness but rather live in a state of a hypnotic “waking sleep”. My personal goal as an artist is to create work that provides an opportunity for an individual to break free of the “waking sleep” causing them to question and provide for them the opportunity to see with newly informed eyes.
This also serves as a mirror for me, because it reflects my world back upon myself, forcing me to investigate what I really believe in and holds me accountable for what I put out into the world. I am an extension of my art… and my art is an extension of me. Between this is the growth and development of me as an artists and a active participant of the world.
Currently On The Easel
Just a little peak of what has been happening in the studio…
The Lake Chapala Projects ~ Catherine Armbrust
One of the best things about being an artist is that I get to meet and share ideas, thoughts and passions with so many other artists and talk about not only our personal works but about the artists that inspire us to create. While learning more about what is happening in the world of art.
I was lucky to meet an amazing artist during the Kinsey Institute show I was part of in May… Her name is Catherine Armbrust (if you get a chance Google her artwork it is AMAZING). Catherine was one of those artists that I fell in love with her art and her passion to make a difference in the world. Willing to be that person providing a voice for those who may have not been heard otherwise. To me this is the greatest passion possible, when ones’ artwork and compassion become one the same.
So today my blog is dedicated to Catherine, to share with you a project of Catherine’s that needs a little bit more funding to make it a reality. Towards the bottom of the post are links that you can learn more about Catherine and her project.
Please help if you can, I know she would greatly appreciate it and if you are unable to contribute at this time, feel free to share this blog post with your friends and family so we may surround this project with wonderful creative energy. Art is about making the world a better place for everyone!
Mixed media artist Catherine Armbrust—recent winner of The Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show 2014 “Gallery Visitors’ Choice” award at Indiana University—is preparing to return to Mexico this autumn to implement The Lake Chapala Projects.
The Lake Chapala Projects seek to create sculptural installations and costumed performances that interact with the water and landscape of Chapala, Mexico.
“The lake is an important resource for the state of Jalisco—providing income for fishermen, fresh water for drinking and irrigating crops, and a revenue base for tourism,“ Armbrust explains. “Though a major source of life, the lake is in jeopardy for various political and environmental reasons and is a constant source of debate in the region. Thus the lake is the essence of the area, acting simultaneously as a symbol of both vitality and loss.”
Armbrust became concerned about this issue during a month-long artist residency in Chapala after receiving her MFA in Fibers from the University of Missouri in late 2012. She is in the process of raising funds for this creative venture through her Lake Chapala Projects Indiegogo campaign (ends on June 23, 2014).
For more information, please see The Lake Chapala Projects pages online at:
Please ‘Like” the projects’ Facebook page to follow her progress.
www.facebook.com/lakechapalaprojects
Please visit to donate to Catherine’s project.
www.igg.me/at/lakechapalaprojects
You may contact Catherine directly if you have any questions or if you just want to reach out to introduce yourself and say hello.
Catherine Armbrust
Monday Evening Artist Talk:
I always enjoy when I have the opportunity to hear another artist talk about their work, their creative process and share insights to their future dreams. Artist talks help me to put things in perspective reminding me that that creating art is not about absolutes but more about the process or journey. As with most artists, including myself, these ideas usually do not follow a linear timeline, as the ideas are more fluid.
Some of the concepts discussed tonight:
…your shadow will always be with you, a reminder that you as an individual are unique and so is your shadow…there are no two that are alike…
…are my words mine or someone else’s that I have borrowed?
…in art do not fill the space, fill the energy….
As I said, these are concepts that are really beneficial when creating a dialog when discussing art or the creative process.
What are your thoughts?
Works In Progress
Just wanted to share with you two images of paintings that I started this week.
I will share as they evolve!
Everyday!
