Artist Statement

My art is the mining of compulsion. As a sufferer of panic disorder and OCD, intrusive thoughts are a constant, irascible enemy. Relief from these gremlins is often found in the endless, ridiculous repetition of lines, forms, whatevers. Of course, having a Masters degree in ancient art history, these shapes rumbling around my head are unique, to say the least. 

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After thirty years of this manic rigamarole, I wanted to create something, dare I say, beautiful out of the mental illness that has shaped so much of my life. 

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So, I put the black and white figures to paper and drenched its bleakness in glorious, mad color. Hence, an abstract artist was born out of a girl and the gremlin in her head.

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Josie Cotton