About eatingpaintsince00, Tristin Perry.
Born and Raised in Ohio
I remember the name of every art teacher, recall saving bits and pieces of chore money to buy reams of printer paper, and had drawings on every fridge I encountered. Though I never put much thought into the art I was making, it quickly became a large facet of my personality. I was the kid who got art supplies every Christmas, stacks of half-finished sketchbooks and drawers of miscellaneous pencils, pens, and paints.
Art into Adolescence
I carried these traits into my teenage years, though I never completed an art class past middle school. Art was something sacred to me, and creating in a space where every part of creation felt policed, edited by others, and judged was something I never sought out. I continued to make art; I went through bouts of obsession, doodling, and anatomy studies throughout the years. I felt a huge connection to the parts of me that awoke within the process of creating. Looking at art from these years can feel painful, like pulling teeth- but those years were what fostered and created who I am today.
Entering the Professional Art World
Art was something I rediscovered many times in adulthood- it had always come and gone for me according to how much time I had to offer myself. Between work and school, I lost sight of it for periods of time. It always returned to me, without fail. At age 22, I realized how important it truly was to me. At that point, I decided to take it, and myself, seriously. I entered college level art classes, and shortly after, moved to New York and began the hard work that is a Bachelor’s degree in Art. I became fully immersed in art, in the community of it, the processes, the discussions. Suddenly, art was at the forefront of everything. No longer happily living on a backburner, art became the embodiment of my passions in life. Art is a gift, to see with eyes unclouded by the menial parts of life. Recognition of colors, light, beauty in things that dug deeper than I’d ever known. When I am making art, my brain absorbs the process and the decision making and it is all I am. Art is deep within my bones, and I am determined to make something of it.
