About Sean Patrick Philibin

Discovery

Sean Patrick Philibin, a Gemini, fittingly draws inspiration from the opposition and dichotomy of his life. This 37-year-old Painter and Mixed Media Artist identifies as gay yet grew up in a smaller religious industrial community in the Midwest. He spent the majority of his adolescence seeing the world from the point of view of the community he was raised in yet he went on to open his eyes by traveling the country and world as a professional Singer and Actor. Sean’s formal training is in the Performing Arts with a BFA in Musical Theatre yet he now makes his living as a self-taught mixed media Artist. These opposing forces appear as themes throughout his work.

He Says “I believe imperfection is honesty and I strive for my work to be created without the fear of making a mistake limiting my creativity or truth; Lifting the Façade, and Releasing the need to be perfect, while succumbing to raw human emotion and experience. Therefore I encourage each individual to be open to their personal interpretation and journey while consuming my work. My work delivers the message it desires to an individual at that moment and no one, including me, has the right to tell them its content. That is between the viewer and the Art.”

I believe in ART

I believe Art is emotion and the majority of my pieces are inspired by some event, person, or experience that has overwhelmed me emotionally. I have very specific emotional catalysts that supply the original inspiration for each piece. But in the same way that the inspiration grows and evolves as I create so do the central meanings of my pieces. In this preliminary heightened state of emotion, my application of the medium to the canvas is strong, deliberate, and purposeful. The markings although haphazard have an intention that is raw and emotional.

I believe imperfection is honesty. My main focus when creating my work is that I want it to be created without the fear of making a mistake limiting my creativity or my truth; Without the need to be perfect urging me to hide my emotionally raw human experience behind a facade. Easier said than done? Maybe... maybe not. Because I believe ART is alive and has the ability to inform the ARTist how it wants to be brought to life. I see an artist’s ability to listen, decipher, and implement what a piece communicates, regarding its creation, as what separates "good" ARTists from "great" ARTists; ignoring these "clues" altogether is what separates "good" ART from "bad" ART.

If the art is informing me of the process of its creation, the choices are not mine to make. If I am only an instrument used by the ART to complete its task I eradicate the fear of making a mistake because they are not my mistakes to make. My initial markings are haphazard, emotional, and full of vigor. But the rest of my work on my pieces is meticulous and thoughtful. There are times I stand looking at a canvas for hours, not because I'm stuck, but because I am carefully examining it for the clues on how to proceed.

My favorite pieces have been born out of the desire to create without waste. The last little bit of paint on a pallet or the scraps from a damaged canvas has become powerful subjects in my work. I often find my pieces explore duality: Light and dark, hot and cold, before and after, and many times good and evil to the point that I realize I am rooting for a particular color or a technique in the painting to "win" as I paint. This is most apparent in pieces inspired by LGBTQIA subject matter. I will save the endless pages I could write on the many ways that could be related to my 15 yrs of Catholic Schooling for my Auto Biography: "Memoirs of a Gay Sean".

I believe ART grows, ages, and evolves. A piece from 50 years ago, interpreted now, can evoke very different emotions and messages than when first created. I believe the experience of consuming art in this form is specific to the individual viewer. Once I've processed my emotions finished the work and completed my journey with the piece I release the ART and the experience and just observe. Many times it says something much different to me than I thought was originally intended.

So If I believe there is no such thing as a mistake when creating, then there can be no such thing as a mistake when interpreting. The ART says what it wants to say to a person at that moment and no one including the ARTist who created the piece has the right to tell them what message the ART is trying to convey. That is between the viewer and the Art.

I believe Art is anything you have passion for and put hard work into.

I believe there is not enough inclusive and equal representation in who/what is widely referred to as the "famous" ARTists/ART.

I believe all ART is valid and anyone brave enough to put their ART out into the world is a true ARTist

And I believe ART can do anything you put your mind to...

About

Artist Statement