Throughout history, concretely defining the meaning of art has continually escaped philosophers, art critics and artists alike. Many great minds have sought to apply their own definitions to this vast and complex issue of what art is, including Plato, Kant, Friedrick Nietzsche, and many more contemporary minds such as Clement Greenberg and Donald Judd. Art keeps moving in new directions that throw off definitions offered by one person or one era. Art can have many meanings for each individual, depending on his experiences, emotional state, intelligence, and the culture and moment in history he belongs to. His opinion is valid as long as he attempts to validate his thought in a humane, peaceful, and intellectual manner. And one who chooses not educate himself about the beauty around him is doomed to live an unfulfilled life, and therfore has no ground to criticize art. As an artist, I see a sharp distinction between the impressions of someone viewing works of art and the process of creating them. When creating a piece, I focus on more empirical and emotional sensations. I want to understand the experience before me as fully as possible, and printmaking allows me to do that. The real challenge is to portray these sensations and emotions of my inner psyche while witnessing particular event that is happening before me. This being said, one can conclude that my art is very personal, explorations into to my inner psyche. My decision to focus on printmaking has a lot to do with my upbringing in central Nebraska, where I grew up on a small farm. I spent most of my time playing, fishing, and working outdoors. I learned to drive a tractor at age six and began to pick up pipe, cut grass, hoe beans – typical farmboy work. I learned to appreciate hard work and working with my hands. Printmaking allows me to relive that experience—the physical exertion of rubbing and pulling a print by hand is some of the most rewarding work I do. My upbringing taught me to appreciate not just the product of work, but the process itself. At 18, I went to work in a slaughterhouse in Lexington, where I learned plumbing, welding, electrical and mechanical systems, and honed my carpentry skills. This craftsmanship—the ability to appreciate both the result of a hard day’s work and the experience of the work itself—translates to the materials, tools and processes of printmaking today. This is especially true when I cut my blocks for my prints. Understanding how certain woods will react to being carved allows me to enhance the visual experience, and at the same time connect more closely to the event to the process. I like to use objects from the scene I am creating, like scrap wood found in the alley I am drawing. This confidence and understanding of material and the different processes allows me to always be doing something different, and that helps me create that is new, exciting and interesting. © 2008-2009 Andrew Christen