Artist Statement

Mark Youngsma>>

In the beginning, I viewed the skeleton as the catalyst pertaining to the metaphysics and existential questions of identity.  

Aesthetically, I am devoted to the human skeleton as a subject because of its form, and the positive & negative spaces it provides.  In recent studies, I have integrated the muscular configurations that enable the body to exert motion. The skeleton juxtaposed to the flayed skin allows certain potentials for interpretation.  I explore the skeleton, the muscle, and the skin overlay, so that those three components may reveal their own hidden truth of metaphor and figurative language. 

The approaches that I have learned in my formal training and methodology are attentiveness to structural cohesion, balance, dynamic composition, and high contrast.  However, I have not outlined the explanation of what my work means.  I have intentionally left void any meaning so the viewer has room to interpret and complete the visual assertion.  

(Project in progress... This collection is expected to be completed in the Spring of 2008)