Why Make Art?(An Artist’s Statement by Joshua Blue)1. When forced to confront the human experience, the most effective way for me to cope is to relate. To relate, I must first express.2. When I express, it should be an attempt at honesty.a. Truth is the product of honesty.b. Honesty is universal. Therefore, what makes me human holds more significance than that which makes me an individual.c. It is possible to create something so honest, or to portray something so honestly, that any person from any place can relate to it.3. Finding honesty is a process—and the process is the point.a. I am not attempting to create illusions.b. Knowledge of my process breaks illusion.c. My process is just as important as my work.4. My actions make my identity.a. Artists make art.b. I make art.c. I am an artist (see 4a-4b)5. Making art is freeing, and I want to feel free.6. Sometimes people who make art get famous.7. The only absolute truth is that I am going to die—and I must do something until then.a. I’m afraid to die and I feel that if I make enough things that other people find interesting, I will never really die. Artist Bio:Joshua Blue was born and educated in North Carolina, where he studied sculpture, installation, painting, and photography. After completing his education, he moved to the West Coast and settled in Salem, Oregon, where he currently lives and works. Blue’s art utilizes techniques from Abstract Expressionism, Post-Painterly Abstraction, Pop Art, and American Social Realism.His abstract work often features energetic colors, bold lines, and familiar shapes and symbols, building layer by layer to create questions of foreground and background that draw the viewer in. By focusing on familiar façades and objects of Americana, his naturalism evokes the simplicity and naïveté of an animated sitcom while emphasizing the minor details often overlooked in such works. Overall, his collection maintains a consistent personality by incorporating bold lines and a vibrant, Pop-inspired palette from his abstractions into his representational pieces.