Artist Statement
The Weight of Goals
In my life as a student, I realized while working on my assignments that I always set high unrealistic and often unattainable goals for myself. Part way through the school term, I remembered that I should be more reasonable and less rigid. Usually, by then the damage is done and I must work smarter to recover. My illustrated series focuses on the theme of strict, ambitious goal setting.
Ambitious goals and high standards along with unreasonable demands in the pursuit of those goals can have the unintended effect of holding me back. With this illustrated series, I hope to help people understand that it is acceptable to be less strict and rigid with themselves when it comes to trying to achieve those goals. Sometimes it is better to have goals that are more attainable and for us all to keep an open mind on how to achieve those goals. I have changed the way I go about my goals now. I hold a destination or idea of what I want and from there I go with the flow and do what works best for me in achieving that goal. In the past I would set ambitious goals like drawing every day for 8 hours and reading every day for 3 hours while juggling other things in my life. But in doing so I found that I got so caught up in the scheduling, planning and details that I began to feel overwhelmed. Then I end up completing very few, if any of my tasks. When I forget about the specifics of my goal, I end up surpassing my own expectations and getting more accomplished.
In my illustrated series, The Weight of Goals, I have 4 illustrations exploring this concept. Each image features a figure dealing with goals in some way. In 3 of the illustrations the figure is either weighed down or overwhelmed by a mass larger than himself. These objects represent the weight of ambitious, rigid goals. In the final illustrations, the figure is seen breaking free from the weight of the goals and ascending upwards. This freedom to ascend represents letting go of the overwhelming strict goals and embracing a more unconstrained way of progressing.