I am an interdisciplinary artist working in a wide variety of themes including nature and natural sciences, politics, history and archaeology.  I work with hand-sewn beadwork, mixed media, photography, video and hand-surveyed hand-drawn maps.  My work is strong in concept, content driven, and often narrative, but can also be formed by the reflection that occurs during the building of a piece.  As I work I often find the subject to be more complex than it first appeared and intertwined with other issues and ideas.  Those additional details often find a way into the artwork leaving a piece that is often much more layered in meaning than it first appears.  I am a self-taught artist.

While my artwork often appears to be carefully planned, I actually tend to work intuitively, one design element at time.  Armed with an initial concept I will research the idea and gather a mass of ideas and visual images until I am sure that I can work a piece to completion. At that point I, most likely, will continue with research, living with and documenting my learning experience in the artwork.  My video work is contemplative spoken word observations and reflections with supporting video, photography and sound effects.  

My artworks tend to be labor intensive whether in the construction method or the gathering of information and materials.  Since 2008, I have been creating an multi-media artistic documentation in video, photography, maps and sculpture, ‘The View from the Canoe’, which focuses on altered waterways and man’s relationship with nature.

Scott Schuldt

January 2011