Artist Statement: Judith Clayton Van

I am a writer, teacher, artist and lover of horses; a westerner by birth and inclination. My work explores the changing west and women's changing roles therein.

I write not only about the open stretches of land where I grew up, but about the dark narrow passages of the new cities where love conflicts with honor, and pity wars with pride. I seek new solutions to our problems, and new understanding of our changing culture.

As a child I asked for paper and pencil, crayons and magazines. I prized the tales told by family and members of the larger human community. I wanted to make stories and drawings of my own adventures to add to their record. I wanted form and history, lights and sound. Lines on the page, words on the page, structure, detail, negative space, were my private concerns. These concerns led me to people who shared my love of "getting it down on a page"--or in any other way we could. Sharing work and knowledge fulfills a creative cycle. It helps us all see better.

I want to create literature that records the evolution of humans, their cycle from the limited, specific and personal to the communal, transcendent or universal.