Artist: Jeff Goodsell
Title: Masquerade
Medium: Assemblage (Wood, ceramic, plastic, metal, resin, patina, etc...)
Size: 19"t x 14"w x 8"d
Price: $3,495 (this price does not include applicable tax or shipping costs)
Artist's Statement: It's interesting, I had a specific direction I was going in my thinking behind the meaning of this piece. Then in talking to a friend about my piece, and before I explained the meaning I was intending, he got all excited about what a Masquerade means generally in cultures both past and present, which I hadn't considered.
I wanted to stay true to the theme "Autumn Apparitions" so I went with the idea of a gothic masquerade ball for the physical appearance of the piece. For the inner meaning I wanted to play with the idea that we all wear masks. Different masks at different times, sometimes they change multiple times a day and other times they represent different phases of our lives. Who we present to the outside world usually doesn't show all of the things that make us who we are on the inside.
Even if we are genuine in who we show ourselves as to the world, we still wear symbolic masks that make up who we are. For example: Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, Aunt, Uncle, Grandma, Grandpa, Friend, Niece, Nephew, Employee, Patron, Leader, Follower, Politician, programmer, artist, accountant, teacher, worker, etc... How we play those roles in our lives defines who we are as an individual, and daily introspection on how we are doing in each of our roles is useful to becoming better at each role.
My friend talked about how traditionally Masquerade is a time when people can put on masks to be whomever they want to be for a night. The idea that we can put aside our inhibitions and be anyone else for a night. This idea is intriguing because it could bring out the best in us or the worst in us... If you could be anyone for a night, and no one would ever know it was you, who would you want to be?
About the Artist: Imagination is the key to the soul I have been creating art for all of my life, from ceramics to woodcarving, to sculpture and drawing to painting and anything else I can get my hands on, if it involves creativity and it's a medium to express it then I'm on it. So much the better if it has a message, hidden layers of meaning that are there to discover for anyone willing to take time to engage with my work.
My art is an anthology of my own personal life experiences and the way that they relate to the human experience as a whole. I believe there are life lessons and principles that hold true for our generation, as well as past and future generations, my art is about the discovery and expression of these truths. This way I feel like I can relate to artists who have gone before and discovered the same truths, I am a link in the perpetual chain of the proliferation of these truths, I am tied to the past and future through that chain. All art in this sense is timeless. (and fun, art is so fun to create!)
