Alexis Ukaha: Q2 Benchmark

​When I work with any form of art, I am reminded that art is not what I think I know, but what I know I see. I begin a piece by saying to myself ‘you are not an artist’. By saying this to myself first, no matter what the finish product maybe, I am content with it because I am not an artist, therefore it I can be filled with happiness and obtain a sense of equality when my work is placed side by side with someone who actually is an artist. Art does not come easy for me. It’s almost as though art should be classified as an unofficial emotion. This being because art is what you feel, what you depict when you view a painting, or look at the world; it’s your spirit. And all these I lack.

  In fact, my artwork doesn’t contain any of the qualities one would qualify as being art. There is no skill, no talent, no emotion, no feeling yet what it lacks in those departments; it’s generously made up in effort. I cannot allow myself to do something I haven’t done in a long time, but I could more than a courteous amount of effort into trying, and that is what my artwork is a reflection of: enterprise.

  For my quarter two benchmark, I struggled with what exactly I wanted to accomplish, and what I would be proud to show the world. Something I could own up to, and put my name on. However, this wasn’t easy. I started drawing sketches of different objects that would be placed before at that period of time. This didn’t work. My interpretation of copying what I thought I saw, was confused with copying what I knew should be there. And with each attempted trial, I thought I had failed.

  Given everything I learned about art thus far, I figured I needed to start with something more basic. Something that truly had to do with sight, or something that could replicate my emotions even if they weren’t truly there; for this would be my artwork. So I picked up 3 colors.

Now, the color wheel is not complex. It’s simply an organization of color hues around a circle, showing relationships between colors considered to be primary colors, secondary colors, complementary colors, etc. The wheel can show more, and more mixtures of colors, without every truly defining what color is.  This was my artwork. Knowing that I could replicate something that no one else could define but myself because it was the way I saw it, made me anxious.

And from this, I created my vision of what I believed to the color wheel. I mixed colors to create other colors, and mixed those colors to try and create new colors. I knew my piece was finished when I started to get the sense of frustration. Because I was becoming overwhelmed with the idea of completing my color wheel, I knew I was beginning to think too hard. And because I was able to tap into an emotion, I knew I had accomplished something. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of happiness, and when I try to go beyond what I believe to be all of my ability, I know it is time to stop. Art is not my passion, but it is something I am trying to “relearn”. When people see my work; I'd like them to realize that I am not an artist