Layers upon layers of entrapment.  I want to convey this state, where we cannot access the world and the world cannot access us. We all, to some degree, create our own environments and wear them like a shell around us. It is a suit that keeps us alive, but also prevents us from fully experiencing life. 

Everybody can at times feel like an astronaut, trapped inside a suit, inaccessible to the world. It's not a feeling of being without people, but more of a psychological isolation. Inside and outside can get confused. Alone, the ego is left without motivation. A lack of stimulus and companionship leaves a sense of emptiness.  All that remains is survival – fending for ourself and reverting back to our primal roots. 

It is the contrast between the urban wasteland and the natural environment that the astronaut explores. That dichotomy between the developed and the natural is perhaps one of the greatest battles we are facing today. The more our technology surrounds us, the more important the essential things of life become. In cities, a sense of the man-made gives a sense of familiarity, but if there is no life, an alienation and haunting silence takes hold. Thoughts turn inward. Sometimes it is like I am in a ghost town in my heart. We strive for companionship, and without it, we are driven into melancholy and estrangement. It is not the humility of reverence but of self-abasement.

Protection and isolation are almost synonymous. We are all anonymous astronauts wrapped in that which we need to survive. There is loneliness, both inside of the suit and outside in the environment. Which is the greater torment?

Andrew is an artist that likes spacemen, bubbles and Canadian Hunter.

He received his BFA from The University of Colorado, Boulder and is in progress earning his MFA from the University of Utah.

Americas 2012: Paperworks- Northwest Art Center, Minot State University (Minot, North Dakota) 2012
                 - Juror: Michael Barnes
Pursuant Pharaohs- Collar Works Gallery (Troy, New York) 2011
"Iosif Iser" International Contemporary Print Biennial, 9th ed.- Prohova County Art Museum (Ploiesti, Romania) 2011
Inbetweens- Kimball Art Center (Park City, UT) 2011

*Inaccessibility- Alvin Gittins Gallery, (Salt Lake City, UT) 2011
            *Solo Show
12 12 Gallery International Juried Works on Paper Exhibition 2011, 12 12 Gallery, (Richmond, VA) 2011
                  - Juror: Dan Welden
24th Annual McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition, Abercrombie Gallery, (Lake Charles, LA) 2011
                 - Juror: Dan Cameron
Place, Clemson National Print and Drawing Exhibition-  Lee Gallery, (Clemson, SC) 2011
                 - Juror: Lynne Allen
Tension- Alvin Gittins Gallery, (SLC, UT) 2011
Lagniappe 7: For Good Measure- Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University, (Baton Rouge, LA) 2011
                 - Juror: Melanie Yazzie
Seven Years at SaltGrass Prayer Flag Print Exchange-     
SaltGrass Printmakers, (SLC, UT) 2010
Utah Works on Paper and Mixed Media Show- Rio Gallery, (SLC, UT) 2010
                 - Juror's Award
                 - Juror's: Elizabeth Dove and Michael Sarich
Picklepalooza!- The Pickle Company, (SLC UT) 2010
ImPRESSionable- Alvin Gittins Gallery, (SLC UT) 2010
                  - Juror's Award
                  - Juror: Erik Waterkotte
The Printed Image 3- Alice C Sabatini Gallery, (Topeka KS) 2010
                  -Juror: Endi Poskovic
Mind The Gap- GARFO Art Center, (SLC UT) 2010
2010 Utah Ties Juried Exhibition- CUAC (Central Utah Art Center) 2010
                  -Juror: Timothy Hawkinson
Who Do They Think They Are?- Alvin Gittens Gallery, (SLC UT) 2010
Art On Paper- Maryland Federation of Art 2009
                  -Juror: Joann Moser
Spark Gallery: Juried Print Show- Spark Gallery (Denver, CO) 2008
                  -Juror: Bud Shark
Night of 1000 Drawings- Artist Space (NYC, NY) 2007
Or Best Offer- CU Art Museum Sibelle Wolle Fine Arts Building (Boulder, CO) 2005

The Daily Utah Chronicle- August 30, 2011 page 4
The Park Record- August 23, 2011
Western Humanities Review- Winter 2011 Edition, pages 21, 63, 98, 133
15 Bytes- November 2010 Edition, page 7, 'Back to the Future'

All Works available for purchase. Email if interested andrewrice82@gmail.com