Artist Statement - Laureen Watjen

Art is my tool for interpreting the journey of my life. Years ago I was introduced to the word "livskunstner," a Norwegian word, which means artist of life. This is my birthright. The “what?” of the “who?” that I am. As far back as I can remember, I’ve delighted in seeing what is not seen by the naked eye. Colors push and pull at me beneath my skin. Shapes tweak at my mind and sometimes feel so familiar, they could be a favorite sweater worn for years. I sense an importance in certain shapes, colors, and symbols that are borne over and over again in my art.

Art is never meant to be seen with the mental mind. Art can, however, be a tool to know oneself and to connect with others at the level of the soul. I am finding that my greatest challenge is to balance the physical world in which I exist and the tangible world from which my truth emanates. My art is my connection between these two worlds. I have no doubt this is the reason I have become adept at so many mediums. Circumstances making it difficult or impossible to work in one medium have been the springboard to explore a new medium. The medium was never the art, whether it was glass, film, paint or word. Rather, these were just the tools, and the art was the truth of the soul, expressed and witnessed, over and over.