"Anthropomorphic Gingerbread Encapsulating the Very Embodiment of a Pragmatic Me (Or: A Half-Baked Attempt at the Abstruse, but Crumbling [in]to Pseudo-Intellectualism and a Knowing Nescience of Grandiloquence a.k.a. Cracked Cookie-Cutter)"

Artist Statement:

As the title hardly suggests, this work represents me: a very literal, simple guy who mainly makes art of things I enjoy. The entirety of this piece is interacting with me - and, in turn, learning about (mostly) Spider-man, due to him being my current "obsession" (started Januarary 2025, still going strong). The work alone is pretty self-explanatory, lacking any real "depth." The title, however, is a play on that.

Any time I am surrounded by other artists, I feel as an outcast. Everybody has these metaphors or emotions they want to express into their pieces—almost like a source of therapy, but I could never relate. I simply want to draw characters. There really isn't more to it than that. So, the title is my "mockery" of it, in some sorts. I use this absurd, over-the-top language to describe this relatively simple piece - because this is how I feel attempting to interpret any non-literal piece. I do not mean to insult other artists, I just don't understand them; their words and thoughts are simply beyond me.

Among the gingerbread puns, I take note to express my lack of conformity, hence the "cracked cookie-cutter." I try to fit in—try to put a fitting title and statement to my "superficial" piece—but it is always forced. The literalist taking a gander at the abstract. I wish my pieces could be stand-alones; I wish I did not have to enforce these labels, definitions, and meanings onto my own art, because it feels unnatural. Because it doesn't belong.

So, taking a little inspiration from Will Wood and his... eccentric naming conventions, I came up with this: an overly-pretentious, rambling title that is ultimately meaningless, because everything is simply pretend. This isn't me—the normal me. This writing is my attempt to conform to the instructions of this assignment. This statement is seeking to be somewhat professional - to maintain any sort of semblance. But it's not me.

This is my piece.