10.13.2021

(Pause before continuing)

(Deep Thought before continuing)

Appropriation is a very nice way of saying that the term is either meaning the word rape occurred or consent given to collaborate. To appropriate is to answer for doing so in your actions. To appropriate on something is to understand what came before you interjected onto the original question posed or be held under the microscope of judgement from it.

Where I have come from as an artist in my works has been from an understanding of the past and from psychology in order to move forward. The things we see are a part of us the minute we witness them and what we do with that from there is up to us as individuals. We absorb a story as much as we absorb a book and from there a tapestry is created. A remix of everything that came before and what will come after. The things we hear are forever emotional as we listen to the soul of a artist in both singular and collaborative form. It represents a time and a place for us all or we go back to the collective artists that built a film and meaning. We are all in this together. There is no one artist. There is always a collaboration between at least 2-3 things. In bigger productions there are bigger the numbers. It is always a group effort to see something to come to conclusion of a “final” product.

With my Heroes+Villains, I sought after the dream of rediscovering one’s youth as we grow older. Even at my 20’s at the time I search for a do-over and a chance to discover 4 phases of life. In the beginning it was just you, in the second we introduce environment and build on ideals taught to us, the 3rd was a birth of individualization and to create a space where you can be whatever you wanted to be when you grow up. No inhibitions, but always at the artist and model’s control. Just understanding that it is the uniqueness that makes the story interesting is enough that we are meant to be recognized. Who is to say what is the right form for Captain America? Who is to say that Wonder Woman can’t be a man? To go further down that list is to talk about the culture we are raised in and what we have set for as ideals in presidents, doctors, actors, marine biologists or whatever is in our hearts desire as a child and as an adult. Change the world either way as both big and small feats always matter.

I never got to Heroes+Villains #4. That series always meant to be about our elders both discounted and remembered. Maybe they were not appreciated at their time. Maybe they were and discounted for being older now. So many lessons are learned in our elders regardless of age. My mind pretty set on that intention that you need to learn from the past in order to move forward with the notion of never discounting what came before. In age we face mortality, but it is always about what we do in our lives that make a difference. To be considered either is to look at yourself as a hero to some and a villain to others. We will always be both.

My Divine Comedy was always meant to be a coping mechanism and one where I established 9 stages of process for trauma and grief vs. the majority ruled 5. I know from my place of appropriation that Revenge is not a stage meant even towards the conclusion of the 5 and squarely sits around stage 3 before a conclusion of my 9. To evoke those stages is to understand those stages in both the standardized form and in my intellectual property that has been invaded. I do not take that lightly with what I am about to say.

To appropriate is to take from something we experienced and grow from there. Done very individually from what we are learned. That could be a fairy tale from another country or that could be just from our own experience. Personal experience is very different from the corporate world.

I look back on my work. It was always a striving towards working with what you have to make it work. That has been most of my life really. The dream always there but the creativity taken over at some point. Work with what you have. For most it is none, to other it is all the resources available and yet still deferred to others as we always do.

I cited my post on the other day about artists are never realized until they are gone. An opportunity had once the struggle is over. After the fact, I realize some people’s best practices and go through legal to make sure edges are blurred and we don’t cross lines. From Ruby Slippers back to Silver, to lions of other countries taken and placed in the US. Has that been done to my work? Cited enough to know that I’ve been followed. Referenced enough to know that I’ve not impeded and have transformed for a greater purpose than the brand presented. I stand by my brand promise. I stand by my inclusiveness and with the heart of imagination and ingenuity. As I have built my brand I’ve asked upon reference from others and from everyday people. Me and You. I’ve made multiple references outside of one version to make not a definitive version but taking into consideration context of what came before while switching it up in the mix in both literature and self-reference.

My website was recently overtaken. I acknowledge the respect of acknowledgement, but led to questions of a bigger standard these days to ask. I bow down to those in the field in respect as I enter my hat into consideration. As my original sound mixes were taken away from me it brought to the forefront of what else is stripped from us from those with more knowledge and power? My computers hacked…my files taken never to be restored. Bigger issues down the line to be asked and never answered. Existential to ask the questions of what can and can not be restored in the sake of what came before and what will come after. Was it worth it and was there a safe space had?

3 years known now of invasion of privacy. How long prior? To adjust to that is to adjust to the idea of coping and performative behavior. You try to adapt to it knowing your sense of space is gone never to be retrieved. A mirror broken and the shards glued together knowing there is always something in the cracks that can get through.

I’m a writer. I’m a photographer. I’m a painter. I am a retoucher. I’m a sound designer. I am a graphic designer. I am an art director and maybe one day a creative director. My life has been about art and to find commonality and togetherness. Never a thought in this world that I’d be naïve to what others can do in fun. I ask in fun, did you look at the other side of your actions?

Dreams are taken every day. From my experience I’ve seen the discounted looked down on and exploited. I’ve seen wedding dresses stolen and unfulfilled and I’ve seen marriages end and friends be rebuilt over time. Find you dream is what I advise, but also fight for one as well. I’ve fought just as much as you or maybe not as much as you. I’ve struggled.

As an artist entering this world, I’ve had my voice taken may times in the past knowing my voice has been taken now and will be again. To take my voice is to take what I represent and those exploited and discounted. Are you ready for that mantle?

I still believe in dreams and I believe in artistry and collaboration. I believe in corporate alliances and I dream in coming together for a greater good. To challenge that is to find sides of me that I keep back to show my history of perseverance.

I invite this clip that will be used as a goodwill gesture to Stratford-upon-Avon and to the team of creators of Kimba the White Lion. My original was taken down from social media as was my original videos of citing The Jabberwocky and Humpty Dumpty on Youtube from back in 2014. My earliest video formats gone.

This is my symbol to you of goodwill and gesture understanding we have to understand the past to understand what we are doing and where we are going. Feel free to have full copyright to this video between the two of you as you see fit under the express permission of Jeremy Irons and/or Linda Woolverton, Jonathan Roberts or Irene Mecchi. I’d only use it for educational purposes on this site and on my professional FB as a single post. #fromanartisttoanartist #ourmuses #ourinspirations