michael katz Portfolios

                                 ARTIST STATEMENT

 

While attending the 4th grade in P.S. 114 in Brooklyn, New York, we had a task to recite any poem we wanted. I came across a poem called "Leisure", by William Henry Davis published in 1911. To this day I still and recite it and this one poem has inspired the main focus of all my work:


What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
and stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass,
No time to see, in broad day light,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at beauty's glance
and watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

by W.H. Davies, 1911., W. H. Davies, Welsh Poet.


My work, like this poem, is based on Natural Lines in Nature and Capturing things that we all see every day, but fail notice it. Just like in the poem, " What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

To have the viewer being drawn into the image as they get closer. For that brief moment in time, experience the images, have the images trigger memories of the past and present, feel that you want to reach out and touch it to communicate with the image and what it represents to the viewer. What story does the image tell you and how it makes you feel inside.

To give the viewer a diverse sensory experience of Light, Shadow, Contrast and the use of soft, as well as vibrant, monochromatic colorings, having them Interpreting the image and how it relates to their own environment.

To give the viewer the ablility to feel as one with the images.

 

                                       

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Artist's Statement

                                 ARTIST STATEMENT

 

While attending the 4th grade in P.S. 114 in Brooklyn, New York, we had a task to recite any poem we wanted. I came across a poem called "Leisure", by William Henry Davis published in 1911. To this day I still and recite it and this one poem has inspired the main focus of all my work:


What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
and stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass,
No time to see, in broad day light,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at beauty's glance
and watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

by W.H. Davies, 1911., W. H. Davies, Welsh Poet.


My work, like this poem, is based on Natural Lines in Nature and Capturing things that we all see every day, but fail notice it. Just like in the poem, " What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

To have the viewer being drawn into the image as they get closer. For that brief moment in time, experience the images, have the images trigger memories of the past and present, feel that you want to reach out and touch it to communicate with the image and what it represents to the viewer. What story does the image tell you and how it makes you feel inside.

To give the viewer a diverse sensory experience of Light, Shadow, Contrast and the use of soft, as well as vibrant, monochromatic colorings, having them Interpreting the image and how it relates to their own environment.

To give the viewer the ablility to feel as one with the images.

 

                                       

sections