Scott Given
Artist’s Statement
Inspiration can hit like lightning. And when it does, I’ll just drop everything and enter the studio. Creating something new is invigorating and I submit to it fully. This is where I let inspiration flow through me and into a new piece of work, whether it be a painting or a sculpture. This moment has been described by on lookers as “Explosive. Emotional. Aggressive. Powerful.” For me it is exciting and almost spiritual.
No one experiences art in the same way. The relationship between a person and a piece of art is as unique as a fingerprint. I find it fascinating how unique the relationship between someone and a piece of art can be. It can stir emotions. It can hang like an intriguing puzzle that needs to be solved It can simply be love at first site.
“Art saved my life” – Scott Given
Art History
– September 2021 – Main Stage Beerfest
– June to present 2021 – BrooksFarms – Interactive installation – The Black Pumpkin
– July 2019 – Main Stage Beerfest
– June 2019 – Wine and Spirit Show – Centrepiece – Big Corkscrew
– October 2018 – Soup Fest – Big Spoons
– July 2018 – Main Stage Beerfest
– May 2018 – Spring Beerfest – Entrance Gate
– October 2016 – Gentlemens Expo
– August 2009 to 2016 – Many public appearances – Hammercane
– June 2009 – creation of Hammercane
– May 2000 – Toronto Group Show OCAD Atrium (curator/artist)
– December 1999 – Florence Italy Group Show
– November 1999 – Florence Italy Solo Exhibition
– November 1999 – Florence Italy Group Show
Please contact for any earlier dates
Press
November 2016 – E article Toronto star – Hammercane
October 2016 – Featured Artist – John’s Expo
May 2000 – Front page Stouffville Tribune (local paper) Giant sand skull sculpture carved in forest floor.
Education
OCAD Study abroad program – Florence Italy – Aug-Dec 1999
Toronto Image Works – 2010
My Story
My isolation started many months before most of you in June 2019 with a head injury that tore me away from my life and left me in a battle with depression.
If I can draw positive from a mountain of negative is that at some point I started doing little scribblings – fast subconscious scribblings of emotions I couldn’t yet express out loud, let alone share.
Embarrassingly personal I knew it was important to get them out. I knew they would never be shown. I called it getting the poison out. The release of energy and emotion was extremely therapeutic. So I decided to lean into it. Lean into the urge to release. Lean into creation. Lean into the therapy. This will be a story of how art saved my life.
At some point, I begin to text little thoughts that popped up throughout the day.
The longer I don’t tell my story the harder it is to tell. It’s a story of happiness, excitement, triumph, defeat, isolation, anxiety, and depression. A constant struggle, a constant battle, a journey into nothingness.
I have finally become the starving artist I was always meant to be.
When you are alone in the darkness you must make it your friend. Day and night. Wake or sleep. They are all the same. They are endless. The darkness is everywhere – all around you and inside of you. You are the darkness.
I carry in me a feeling of deep sorrow. I feel it. In my stomach. In my heart. Under my smile. I feel I need it. I need it in me. I need it out of me. Who am I without it?
Dark days. Dark thoughts. Dark art.
Depression does not ask for your permission. Depression is not a choice. Depression is the battle with oneself. It’s a battle that happens in the most intimate place. It happens in your mind. In your thoughts.
***2021
This year feels the same. In this time of turmoil, I find my art evolving. It’s exciting because I have no idea what the finished product will be it’s pure emotion pure reaction it’s very freeing. Very therapeutic
April 9, 2021
When you live in the dark for long enough your body mind and eyes adjust then it hurts when you try to reenter the light
June 3, 2021
The shame of depression. You wear your weakness on the inside. The invisible disease. It’s like quicksand. The more struggle the deeper you get. It’s a 24 hour seven day a week battle with yourself in your own mind.
It’s excruciating. It’s exhausting. Lean towards happiness.