It should be noted first that for art to be effective one should be able to appreciate it without the artist’s footnote. For this reason, and because I stress a certain ambiguity in my artwork, I find my explanation somewhat irrelevant. However, sometimes the viewer welcomes some clarification and context to supplement their experience. Images and ideas are important to people and recur in patterns throughout our lives and work. Artists explore the meaning that images and ideas have in their own lives and the lives of others as if they are universal, but artists should recognize that their artwork may not communicate their intended message - and that’s fine. I feel that sometimes an artist’s explanation of his or her work can rob the viewer of their own interpretation, damaging the personal or intuitive connection a viewer feels to the artwork, or lessening the impact of the encounter.
