Artist Statement

Tactile by nature and spatially oriented, I have always loved to look / see / touch / compose / and fabricate. I have a rich history as a visual artist exploring numerous ideas, materials and processes. My deep curiosity drives my passion to physically make things – How will my imagination transpire to reality? Will the process be satisfying to me? Interesting to others? I seek to uniquely capture viewers’ attention – to entice them to linger longer – to find their own meaning or relationship to the work. 

When certain objects beckon my interest or I frame things in a particular way with a camera, I often unconsciously come upon a poetic narrative or find a personal story that inspires me to go further. Thus, a more conscious selection process begins >> choosing materials and objects with potential meaning, and selecting fabrication processes that excite me. These concerns combine and ultimately define the scale of the work; and the compositions occur in kinesthetic response to my body. As my creative process evolves, I allow the work to find its autonomy as I come to more fully understand what I am expressing.  

My artworks vary in scale from a few inches to over thirteen feet in height. They may stand alone, live on tables / boxes / pedestals, hang from a ceiling, reside on walls or intersect through various objects and surfaces. They can comfortably live in people’s homes, fill an entire exhibition gallery, activate public spaces, adorn outdoor sculpture gardens, or exist and engage audiences as temporary site-specific installations - feeding my delight and muse!

PROFILE

Relationships, Curiosity, Learning, and Expressing.

My path to becoming an artist is rooted in my childhood desire to be an Art Teacher. Growing up in suburban Detroit in a blue-collar factory environment, I found little support for creativity, college, or career. As my autonomy developed, so grew my passion for creative self-expression.

With curiosity intact, I left home to explore the world via hitchhiking. I lived in a variety of places before settling into the Colorado Carpenters Union Apprenticeship program in my mid-twenties.

Carpentry and scholarships funded my university experiences as I earned my Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Gratefully, my ongoing passion for the arts led me to a plethora of exhibiting, lecturing, and teaching opportunities.

Forever the student of curiosity and observation, I match these qualities with personal understanding and self-expression.

JUDI STRAHOTA

– BOULDER, COLORADO –

judistrahota@gmail.com / 303.993.3390