Artist Statement

I was assigned Milosz's Idea in Intermediate Drawing as my third year at NSCAD was coming to a close. It was time to select my courses for my fourth, and presumably final year. My time at school was unresolved and short. I had completed the first year of my degree online in the midst of Covid-19. Despite my efforts to make up for this disappointing start, much that I had been anticipating had not come to pass. I started spending all hours at school. I took classes in lithography and intaglio and found the magic of the print studio to be the farthest thing from the cramped scribbling I'd been doing the previous year. But equally important regardless of the hour, I was never alone in the studio. I gained confidence; in my abilities technically and socially; in my choice to attend, that I deserved to and I wanted to be there. I walked to campus happily with purpose.

I had all the requirements to graduate after four years. I had taken a full course load, summer courses and I had always rushed to the highest level course I could. I felt the expectation to graduate, and I felt the urge to join my peers who already had. I felt all of the anxiety and excitement that come with starting a career. I found myself struggling to distinguish between what I felt I should do and what I wanted.

As I read "Idea" I return continually to the image of marching. To march is to move in unison with others, to act under a common objective, a common ideal; to walk with the confidence that what you are doing is right. I've lost that confidence and I wonder what dreams might torment me.

The title "Whose feet are these?" is a quote from an instructor pausing to view the works as they sat in the drying racks. I felt it encapsulated my questioning while also adding an element of humor and levity. The project deals with fear, and expectations; with shoulds, wants, and individuality. "Whose feet are these?" is about trusting yourself and those around you, and placing one foot in front of another.

Installation of the works is intended throughout NSCAD's Fountain Campus, so they might serve as a reminder that it is lighter than it seems and in the hope that they might spark meaningful conversation.

O. Jarsky