ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Myths once played the most integral of roles in people's lives - teasing out and guiding deep wishes and impulse from the edge of the subconscious. They taught people how to feel the sacredness of nature, bound groups together by creating a feeling of identity, and clarified the role of the individual. There is no better way to teach a person how to explore the inner darkness of intuition and instinct, because words alone are inadequate to describe these feelings.

Much to the loss of society, that sort of mythic integrity with people's lives has declined. Facts are presented to people about the function of nature, society, and the self, but if an understanding is achieved at all, it is usually without feeling - dry and intellectually abstract. Fragments of the old stories still exist in pop culture, but, with the media busy chasing celebrities and immediate satisfaction, it is no easy task to find, reassemble, and reincarnate these pieces into fit specimens for our generation. No myth can properly inspire people, unless it is tuned and readjusted to fit the needs of ever-changing culture.

My artwork stems from the edge of pop culture and the old myths, and it speaks of a desire to bridge the gap between the old stories and the new. I combine the mysterious trickster animals from the legends and folklore with modern themes - especially the beloved cartoon and amine characters from my childhood. These elements have followed me into adulthood - shedding some of their naivete for the complexity and darkness of a myth. They're not quite innocent, but filled with the intention to have a destiny. My artwork always features animals, and I use a variety of traditional media to bring them and their stories a kind of ageless quality. I call my animal characters, "orphans", as they are the severed link from the ancient myths surviving and wandering in a world where they don't quite belong: a lost piece of old traditions staring back at the new from a nest of paper. My orphans are the embodiment of the myths we left behind, and one of the frayed connections to the deep mysteries of our own personas.

ARTIST'S BIO

Kristine R. Synowka graduated with her BFA in Printmaking from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, where she distinguisher herself by entering her innovative artwork in juried shows and winning the John Lysak Award for Undergraduate Printmaking. Synowka is, at present, involved in promoting art in the community - teaching computer art and animation at Telecommunity Visible Concept, and teaching a class on comic books at the Center for Creative Arts Expression. On Fridays, she volunteers for Artist's Image Resource after completing an internship there this past summer. She is also currently on the path to graduate school, where she plans on getting her master's degree in either Intermedia, or Sequential Art.