1-Stephen Larrick: Personal Statement

“Should this be about me or about my art?” Steve wonders as he begins his personal statement.
The former authors the latter. To know me is to know my art.

This year, for Christmas, my sister gave to me a bag full of fruit with a note reading “for fruit baseball.” Of all the presents I received, this one was my favorite. For it had long been a fantasy of mine to smash fruit, having been lobbed towards me, with a baseball bat. Shortly after receiving this gift, my sister and I drove to a nearby field and soon, onlookers could see oranges, kiwi, tomatoes, limes, and even grapefruit exploding in the air as I swung my bat. My fantasy had come to FRUITion.

Not long ago, some friends and I carved a large circle out of particleboard (with a saw). We had originally planned for an octagon, but when it occurred to us that red/green colorblindness is the most predominant type of colorblindness and that the shape of a street sign has legal meaning, we settled for a circle. We then colored that circle green with spray paint and stenciled the word “GO” in the center in white. Our GO sign—like a STOP sign only opposite in meaning—was complete. In the dark of night, we raised it (on a wooden post) on a straightaway on a predominant road near the high school in my suburban town of Westford, MA. It has been instructing cars to GO for some time now.

Those who know me as an artist know me for my drawings and paintings—my works in acrylic, pastel, pencil, and charcoal. I do not deny that this is my art; however, these anecdotes share a glimpse of my art as well.

I am interested in exploring the absurd, especially in relation to that which is dignified (or that which is presupposed to be dignified). I want my art to be simultaneously silly and serious in its silliness. Dignified in its lack of dignity. I want it to blur the lines between these diametrically opposed notions.