Exquisite Corpse - A Journal of Letters and Life

Artist's Statement
by John Schuerman || Author's Links

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	The most good that I can imagine myself doing in life is through art. Good art is psychoactive, it affects the mind of the viewer; it changes those that participate. The joy of beholding a great work of art follows from the awe one has for the commotion of thoughts, feelings, associations, questions, sensations, etc. that the art triggered. This experience results in new patterns of thought. Good art makes this happen and I want to affect people in this way. As Plato argued, people who are thinking simply make a better society. Primarily, my art works are not designed to deliver a specific message. The aesthetic qualities alone should influence the viewer. I paint imagined extensions of realistic scenes. They take the viewer to new places --sometimes beautiful, sometimes disturbing. The painting, without a singular message, should push people to enhance reality with their minds. And yet, over the years, certain themes and issues have crept into my work. Themes such as the degradation of the environment, overpopulation, waste, a tack of appreciation for inter-dependency, and lack of individual responsibility, can be seen in various guises--implicit and explicit--throughout my recent works. These problems will get worse if people continue to look away, and I feel compelled to help in this small way to correct that. The strongest influence on my style of painting is German expressionism. For me, there is no other artistic movement depicting so much power in the human figure tied to its situation and Landscape. My affinity for German expressionism can be understood in terms of what I've labeled as the psychoactive power of art. Expressionistic figures in a world of unreliable and fantastic situations make things happen in one's mind. We imagine new possibilities and we internalize some horrors of the past. The challenge is to use this power in a productive way.

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