The Water’s Edge Artist Katie Boatman | The Defense Mechanism

The Water’s Edge
Call for Entries Accepted Artists

Artist Katie Boatman

Columbia, South Carolina,

The Defense Mechanism
Oil Painting

Artist Statement
Mediation plays an important role in my personal life, as well as in my painting. As I create, I become mentally relaxed and free from distraction. It is at this point, as the body and mind act in fluidity with no confliction to either, I feel emotionally and physically balanced. The result is a portal by which one enters to fully concede to internal contemplation of one’s sense of self.

Buddhists believe the world is divided into six separate realms, one being that of the animal realm. It is described as one of complacency, consistency, and ignorance. Those residing within it remain tethered to the constraints of their personal lives and professions, avoiding unpredictable situations at all cost. In many ways, our society encourages this sort of behavioral pragmatism, and in turn, instills unnecessary fear and stress into the minds of countless innocent lives. My work aims to bring forth a solution to those struggling to find a balance by revealing an alternative sense of self. This enlightenment propels internal meditation and awareness that may otherwise have led to an apprehensive, unfulfilled lifestyle.

Influenced by Buddhist thought, these paintings depict a world that strives to gain a better understanding of the self through dissociation of physicality, or bodily preoccupation over the internal, spiritual aspects of life. This abstracted, oceanic world I have created parallels the transcendent realm entered after death. Furthermore, the creatures inhabiting the space are loosely rendered to suggest the soul’s loss of earthly configuration, thereby personifying the individual’s search for liberated consciousness.