More Than Material Art Show Virtual Tour

"Leaving Trails" by Angela Chilson
Photograph On Metal

Artist Statement

Let me introduce myself. I am Angela Chilson, this is my 16th session as a mentor with Portable Vision. I began this session without a single idea of what I wanted to try to create. I LOVE photography as a medium but found that trying to complete a photo in the studio was difficult. Most of my time this session was spent helping students form their ideas and make them come to life. There is something so fulfilling about watching a creation come to life and I very much enjoy having the opportunity to go on that journey with the students. As the session was wrapping up and I still hadn’t found the inspiration to create something outside of my desired medium…. I began to panic that this would be the session that I didn’t actually have something in the show. I was determined to work through the lack of inspiration, motivation and time.

The literal interpretation of my piece is from the idea that, to move forward, you have to continually put one foot in front of the other. But the inspiration for how I wanted the piece to look was from the song “Deteriorate” by Demon Hunter. The specific lines of the song are, “Give me a soul that never ceases to follow despite the infection within. Our careless feet leaving trails, never minding the fragile dirt we all end in.” I need God to give me the strength every day to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I want endurance to carry on even when it feels overwhelming or I am tired. And just the idea that often, when we are tired or the road gets too hard to follow, we wander off track, we start to drift in our own directions, yet God so willingly accepts us back to the path.

All thanks and glory belong to God because He is the ultimate Creator. I thank Him, and the AMAZING team of mentors I get to serve alongside weekly. Thank you to each and every student for sharing their stories and their talents to make this session another great show. Thank you reader, for coming to the show and supporting these students. Thank you Youth for Christ, for their commitment to serving young people of Saint Cloud. I also want to thank all the musicians that create songs that keep me inspired.

Oral Statement