2009 IB HL Visual Art Exhibition: Benjamin Clark

My aim in my work is to express the importance of the human unconscious in the individual development. Personally, the evident strengths in my work include color composition, use of line, creativity, and image design. My largest weakness is the lack of dept or perception in my images. Throughout the process for the show, I attempted to develop artistic techniques with a spectrum of different mediums to overcome my weaknesses. To the best of my ability, I did this as much as possible because I feel there is always room for improvement in my artistic capability. Through individual research and tutoring by both teachers and peers, I have been able to focus studies on my development in specific areas of weakness. My research was performed by focused studies on components of life and by analyzing work of other artists and applying their work to mine. Additionally, experimentation is a large part of my development, and I have done so with different media techniques both with and without guidance to expand my artistic understanding. All of my experience has influenced me, but the two prominent areas of influence in my work are music and psychology. The most significant musically influence on my work is The Doors because of their unique and revolutionary approach to produce music. Marilyn Manson said about Jim Morrison, the creative force behind The Doors, “IF you want to be like Jim Morrison, you can’t be anything like Jim Morrison. Its about finding your own place in the world.” This is the essence of influence from music; it has influenced me to look into my inner self in my work. Carl Jung’s theories are the most significant influence in psychology because he supported the ideas that exploring the unconscious is vital in human development. Visual art is my method for exploring my inner self.