| ABstracts - Allen Bjorkman's Artist Statement As a self-taught artist, I construct images of thoughts. Using a personal pictorial language, I analyze relationships, describe dreams, explore attitudes and issues, and observe personalities. Some of my works depict the large philosophical themes of humanity's connection with the universe, while others investigate the intimate recursive loop of self examination. My exhibits present the refreshing, perhaps enlightening, often humorous results of inverse cosmic journeys. I ask the viewer to suspend traditional perspectives in the same way that a writer for the theater implicitly asks the audience to suspend disbelief. The willing viewer is then invited to enjoy the cerebral and emotional experiences represented by my designs. The opus derives most directly from the (now) traditional work of Miro, Klee, and Picasso, with roots going back to Renaissance woodcuts and ancient art. Abstracted from European, rational, and existential thought, the body of my work stands as a vigorous opposing esthetic to American abstract expressionism, decorative, super-realist, and southwest art. The method used to create a design is a process of clarifying, for the point of discussion and expression, the complex thoughts and realities that characterize modern life by realizing intimate, intuitive reconnections with the child within me. The act of drawing as if I were a child is pure joy: the actual, private art experience is personally exalting. Prints, developed from drawings, are crafted from hand-cut stencils and lino blocks, and have been produced in very small limited editions. I have also begun to draw inside computer programs. Blank pages in my notebooks and sketchpads challenge my creativity. The thousands of drawings made in the frenzy of artistic enthusiasm remain bright, potential creations. Producing small editions of prints and unique drawings does not reduce my desire to communicate to a wide audience; it simply results from this artistıs need to move on to new topics. It is also a matter of time management: I work alone, and physically produce all the work. In order to reach the boundaries of my thoughts (and thus define myself) I must create many pieces, most of which will remain unseen by the public. The limited selection of designs that are brought to an exhibit are intended to allow a theme or vision to be communicated more effectively.
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