Artist Statement

Amber Westmoreland

I am an an experimenter of various mediums, and a student of my tools. I enjoy the unexpected

that comes with using an unfamiliar or unmastered material such as metal, wax or feathers. Risk
is a tool unto itself, the distinct character traits of any given material, and the natural reactions
and challenges it can present often result in the greatest, and most unexpected outcome.

Learning to bend any given medium to my desire was often a healthy outlet for me growing up,
when I struggled in other subjects, art gave me confidence to work through the challenges until I
reached success. Continuing to explore new mediums allows me not only to grow as an artist, but
to build a greater depth of character within myself through the experience and trials of learning
how to accept what is rather then becoming stuck on the notion of perfection.

My feather artworks Lifes Dance are prime examples of this. I had a very specific image in my
head, of a feathers forming a female figure that could dance in the breeze, or completely lose its
form in heavier winds. However, never before working with feathers, combined with not being
able to locate information similar to my concept and material left me lost for strategy during the
stage of construction. This lead to a long process of trial and error when learning to manipulate
my new medium.

Eventually I reached my favorite point where I began to understand my medium enough to work
with it rather than against it. My art was no longer about a figure that could dance and loose its
shape in the wind, but rather a figure whos shadow dances and shifts with the light. While the
figure never looses her shape it is only identifiable as a woman if the time is taken to really look.
The risk of working with the mediums unknown limitations and its process of constant evolution
is the driving force behind me as an artist