Bio

b. 1968 -

Andrea was born and raised in Baton Rouge. She left after high school to pursue the path of a professional artist. She received formal art training at LSU (1986), Kansas City Art Institute (BFA 1990), the University of Texas at Austin (MFA 1994) and at the SACI summer program in Florence, Italy (1986). After leaving a 20 year marketing career in artist materials working for Ampersand (founded in Austin and now in Buda, TX), she continues exploring materials through her experimental and abstract work in mixed media. Andrea currently lives in Southwest Austin and works from her home studio with her musical partner John and her calico studio assistant M. Grace.

Statement

In geological time, my current work is everything I have ever made over a lifetime, taking up the space of a grain of sand. I have been painting with intent for more than 30 years; it is what sustains me. I search for unifying threads between: Cosmology, Physics, Mathematics, Astrology, Biology, Geometry, Geology, Spirituality, Eastern Religion, Chaos Theory, Philosophy, Astrophysics, Biocentrism, Music, Art, Ancient Cultures, and Artificial Intelligence. I cannot claim mastery over any one of these interests except Art and Materials, but I do look to connect the dots between them in order to heal myself and others, therefore turning the tides on the current fate of our planet.

My picture is big. I look for the similarities between us and universal underlying systems that encourage empathy, compassion and awareness of all things in nature as non-superior conscious beings, simply crew members on spaceship Earth. This “overview effect” happens when viewing the Earth from space (Voyager’s pale blue dot). We gain an acute sensation of our smallness and feel a sense of empathy for all humanity – a philosophy that consistently runs throughout my life’s work. I also advocate the need for creativity, imagination and curiosity in all things. I suggest we no longer accept fact at face value and always challenge it with research or experimentation.

I was raised by non-conformists, one of whom is a professional artist and university professor. My parents decided against encouraging a religious upbringing, so my curiosity in various branches of science might stem from that philosophy. Making paintings leads me to new research which leads me to new paintings; this process perhaps fills a void that others satisfy with religious practices. I am extremely open to new information, developments in science and spiritual awareness. My pictures can be meditative, puzzling or stimulating and engaging at a core level.

Lately, I am immersed in trying to see and experience without the human construct and employing visible spectrum theory in order to conjure new or unexpected sensations. Technically, this might be considered a search for the origin of consciousness and a primal universal visual language. Using some theoretical physics, meditation practices and improvisational asemic writing, I experiment with creating pictures that speak to intelligent observers with messages or gifts that come from within. I don’t try to force what others see, only influence or guide the experience.

“Asemic art…represents a kind of language that’s universal and lodged deep within our unconscious minds. Regardless of language identity, each human’s initial attempts to create written language look very similar and, often, quite asemic. In this way, asemic art can serve as a sort of common language–albeit an abstract, post-literate one–that we can use to understand one another regardless of background or nationality. For all its limping-functionality, semantic language all too often divides and asymmetrically empowers while asemic texts can’t help but put people of all literacy levels and identities on equal footing.” –Finnish artist Satu Kaikkonen, from Asemic: The Art of Writing by Peter Schewenger

Find a line, lose a line. Let it dissolve.
Draw a perfect circle, then break it.
Bend a straight line, sharpen its corner.
Keep the edge wet.

Create harmony within discord; capture color with light.
Weave interconnected systems, tracing shape with line.

Pay close attention to imperfection, to the one who is singing off-key.
Turn deep space into flat, and flat space into infinity.
Hold nothing precious.

Illuminate the surface with the transparency of stained glass.
Cover it with shadow when it becomes too bright.
Shade red with green, purple with gold.

Layer color like pools of pressed flowers.
Wait as the beauty fades into morning light.

Start over. Live with the ghost.

Hear the music; visualize the message deep inside.
Keep listening; keep looking until all is quiet and settled down.

Stand and experience this moment as it decays into the past.

Sharpen the Pencil ©2018 Andrea Pramuk Art Studio, LLC.