The social significance of modern myth is now more apparent than ever. My artwork centers on creating a visual narrative primarily through printmaking by making sense of emotions and giving significance to feelings. It is an exploration of life as a search for purpose and myth by developing images through reflection and spontaneity. In a place where I feel a loss of identity and interconnectedness, I am extending perception of real lived life. I am singling out specific moments in time and relating them to other moments for an intensified emotion to define its new dimension and perception of the memory and its reason. I look toward a myth structure to make sense of life, to combat anxiety, and to fulfill the desire for community.
I am influenced by the study of mythic structure, such as Joseph Campbell’s contribution to the study of the human experience, and an interest in the construction of narrative, particularly literature. How stories flow and create a sense of order through a choice of concealing and revealing, how each scene builds suspense and reason for later undoings, and how suffering all amounts in the end as consequence or purpose. The emotions and pain of the individual are related to something bigger than themselves.
A lot of my imagery and interest in symbolism comes from animals and nature, the American West, a childhood exploration of Ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian Legend, and the study of Ancient Asian art history, Buddhist and Hindu art. Much of my subject matter comes from personal revelations and what I am thinking about tends to come out in my work in visual forms of art. I am interested in portraying the layering of moments and the separation of time by memory, the mind’s association of different events, and the emotions connected to it through a suggested narrative.
Overall my work is an intimate look at memory and perspective, thinking about them collectively in order to make sense of their purpose and piecing them together.
H Simon
Artist, Printmaker, and Figurative Drawer currently residing in Kansas City, Missouri.