Mixed media paintings from Wire + Ink owner/artist Cameron Fletcher.
“My aims as an artist are simple and straightforward: apply an anthropological lens to my work, and visually express my interpretations of culture, history, and social zeitgeists.
My approach is to draw upon the diverse experiences of my life. These foundations were laid during my undergrad studying marine archaeology. An education in anthropology is what shaped my worldview; launching a desire to peel back the layers of human existence and unearth the subtext in our lives. As I excavated a Spanish caravel shipwreck with my university at the bottom of Pensacola Bay, I strained my eyes to see not just through the murky water, but to also visualize the life and times of a 16th century Spanish explorer. I have kept that “expression” ever since.
Throughout my life I’ve held various employments that have exposed me to a broad cross section of society, most notably a career working behind bars and in the back of an ambulance practicing street medicine. These experiences further helped me extrapolate my best attempt at a 30,000 ft view of human nature, however - art was the furthest thing from my mind.
It wasn’t until a series of injuries sustained on the job that forever altered the course of my life.
As I spend several years recovering from grueling surgeries, one of the primary keys towards my recovery was learning art. I had gone from the provider to the patient, and with my newfound lack of mobility I decided to teach myself at first guitar, then painting, photography, videography, graphic design, and naturally dyeing fabrics. The countless medical specialists did their best to physically stitch me up, but emotionally and spiritually, learning art was what truly saved me.
As I carve out my new existence as a storyteller, I strive to produce visual reflections of the totality of my existence; distilling everything I’ve learned from a life behind the bar, working as a first responder, as a diver, as a student of history, into an aethestic.”
