an artist statement

The need to communicate is important. Being heavily influenced by comic books and the stories I read as a child, the idea of sequence and narrative has become essential to my drawings. By animating my body language, using symbols, and adding text I create a visual conversation with the viewer and myself. The words, phrases, or lyrics that appear offer multiple interpretations and double meanings that signify an inability to effectively communicate with others.

The objects I include with my figure come from real and unreal places creating the imaginary landscape of my mind. Throughout the work these symbols touch on themes of instability, insecurity, confusion and a misdirection of emotions. As self-portraits these drawings offer bits and pieces of my character, along with alternate identities or personas. By changing costumes there are different stages of confidence and inner conflict that I find myself in.

By drawing myself in self-deprecating poses I am able to temporarily rid myself of anxiety and overwhelming thoughts. My artwork chronicles my life cycling through frustration, happiness, confusion, and disappointment. Specific, personal experiences that can be universally relatable act as the stimulus for my drawings. As a verbally inhibited person my work has become the most direct and honest way for me to express the emotions and feelings that occupy my mind.

-Nathan Vernau, 2010