Chris Mendaros

BFA Drawing

ARTIST STATEMENT: My series, “Visitor” is my answer to my need for temporary escapism. It’s based on the dreams I’ve had, where I end up in faraway lands with these strange bipedal blobs that I call Attendants. These Attendants observe what goes on around them, hardly ever interfering. The illustrations are done digitally, rather than traditionally. I still go through the process of sketching, cleaning up, and coloring, of course.

See, I just feel that there’s three things in my life that are constant and continuously fuel each other: art, stress, and dreams. I make art to understand things that happened or to think about the “what-could-be’s.” I feel stress because I wonder if what I want in life is unobtainable, because of my need to create. I dream to melt away some of the stress and to act as inspiration for my art.

By focusing on the dreams and art side of things, I’ve been able to cope with the state of the world right now, what with how politics and COVID-19 are handled. My dreams are like the process of making digital art. It’s this slight detachment from reality. I can make things appear and disappear with just a few taps on the keyboard.