Photography by Lauralee Sikorski

Artist Statement:
 
Art isn't always about what we (artist or viewer) think.  Art is, at it's most powerful, a fluid exploration.  We (artists and viewers) can get quite caught up in having our opinions about this & that and conversations & critiques of good or bad.  Labels or judgements of style and on and on.
 
I am curious about what is beyond all that chatter? More interestingly to this artist is ...What is BEFORE any chatter of any kind? BEFORE an art idea or piece of art exists, what is the origin of creativity beyond the personal separate self? In the spiritual text of The Bhagavadgita, the divine is referenced in this way ... "Water can not wet it and Fire can not burn it".
 
Sometimes in playing on this creative playing field it feels like I meet the wellspring of any potential inspiration and watch it as it creates itself into something from the ether.   My photo of the artist is an empty cloak that is representative of the pure ether of inspiration and the product of that inspiration or in essence, the physical thing that we wear as if it were ours.
 
I created a series of these artist cloaks (pictured to the right) for the 2013 ArtPrize event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  This cloak was displayed on an elevated catwalk at Rockwell's Republic in the Heartside District of Grand Rapids for the two week International Art Event of over 1,000 artist from across the globe.

About the author:
Lauralee Sikorski is a Connecticut born award winning artist. After art showings in Chicago, Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan she travelled to London where she was juried into a Raw Arts Exhibition at the Candid Arts Center and had her artwork purchased into a private collection. This past year and for the second time, her art work was featured in Branches magazine. Well trained in multiple disciplines of yoga and meditation she uses these skills to move deeper into altered states of creativity.