Pamela Bishop Artist’s Statement ________________________________________________

“Here lie Monsters” was often a phrase penned onto ancient maps to warn sailors of uncharted or dangerous water. To me this phrase represents those areas of the mind one must struggle to pass through in the journey to create. Embracing the struggle with the dark side of creativity and life while also working with the idyllic has great significance in my creative process.

Being classically trained in representational skills and observation, I often meditate and sketch from nature. Though my work is not specific in its imagery it frequently calls to mind elements from the physical world. Algae on ponds, weathered surfaces of neglected buildings, reflections on water and skeletal segments to name a few, are evoked in the paintings. These inspirations often combine with more intangible, unearthly elements such as the white noise you see on your television set, static, the cosmos, cellular activity, thought and time. Though these muses are often identified in my work they are not the main focus of my inspiration. That principle would belong to the physical process of painting and the meditative journey and struggle to create.