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I always thought of myself as an artist trapped in nerd's mind, desperately trying to reach escape velocity, only to be pulled back in time and time again.

~ Daeu Angert on her painting, An Artist Trapped In Nerd's Mind

There are 3 things I love: art, film, & technology. Well… And jiu-jitsu, but that is a topic for another day.

Art because it’s the truth. You can’t hide from art. Even when you try really really hard. Whoever you are will come out on the canvas or what ever your medium is.

Film because I was never satisfied with a static image of an oil painting. I wanted to move the image – give it past, present and future. Spin it around and see it from different angles. Turn it inside out. Create an entire world around the art.

Technology because it gives us the tools to create immersive experiences. Art is an experience. The film, storytelling, and technology are in service of creating an artistic expression and are art in and of themselves.

Daeu talks about the inspiration and meaning of her painting An Artist Trapped In Nerd’s Mind on the I Paint Ideas™ Podcast. Listen here in full or wherever you get your podcasts.

Being An Artist…

I didn’t go to art school. I studied math and computer science, hence the tech thing and cinematography, hence the film thing. And now I paint ideas and have my own Gallery.

My mom asked me why I didn’t go to art school. I was quick to answer her with a question…What would the art school teach me?

They can’t teach me to be an artist. They can only teach me how to be a painter. A painter is not necessarily an artist.

An artist is a creator and an artist will find a way, to innovate and invent and to make their art come to life. I created my own finger painting technique because I didn’t know how to mix colors or use a brush. I found my way to put paint on a canvas and make it my own. Billie Eilish and Finneas used the sound of an Australian cross walk in Bad Guy, Steve Tyler from Aerosmith shared in an interview that they used sugar packets instead of maracas when there were none in the studio, and Dolly Parton revealed in her documentary that she used her long nails in her song.  An artist will find a way to bring her art to life.

A painter is skilled in recreating what’s already there. To me an artist is a creator and painter is a practitioner. Not to say that painter can’t be an artist. I am just saying that I am not a painter. I am artist.

I also think that learning to be skilled practitioner may in some cases take the edge off of being an original artist. I base this on the influence of physics in my art. There are several paintings with direct relationship to physics: If I Was A Wave, Indra’s Net, 53 Qubits… No matter which way one goes, a true artist will find a way home to their art with or without the art school.

The Artist Trapped In Nerd's Mind - an original oil painting by Daeu Angert
An Artist Trapped In Nerd’s Mind. Daeu Angert. Diary Collection. 2021. Oil on canvas. 60″ x 48″ & digital extension (artist POV).

An Artist Trapped In Nerd’s Mind – The Idea 

The starting point for this painting was a need I to show the duality that I feel of being an artist and a nerd at the same time. Being left and right brained (I am ambidextrous, too); able to zoom in and out of seeing big strategic picture one moment and deep diving into the weeds the next; being super creative and super analytical all at the same time.

I also wanted to incorporate couple of the trends that I have going on — show art’s point of view and of course put the original on the continuum and create a digital extension to compliment the original oil paining. I wanted to transport the observer inside of the painting driven by curiosity to see what’s it like inside.

The oil painting is the view from outside in (The Nerd) and the digital extension is the view from inside out (The Artist).

An Artist Trapped In Nerd’s Mind – The Nerd (Outside-In POV)

The nerd is represented by shiny coating of black and white containment field: logical, rational, with very predictable rhythm of black and white dancing together. Entire painting is a rhythmic and algorithmic exchange of black and white seemingly going on for ever. You can easily imagine it continuing beyond the edges of the canvas. When you face it, it feels like a solid wall, with no way in.

It’s rather imposing piece that takes considerable wall space, standing at 5′ x 4′. From a distance you see very uniformed pattern of black and white. However, as you get closer you see subtle cracks in this black and white shell. If you get even closer, you may notice subtle color coming through.

An Artist Trapped In Nerd’s Mind. Details. Daeu Angert. Diary Collection. 2021. Oil on canvas. 60″ x 48″ & digital extension (artist POV).

An Artist Trapped In Nerd’s Mind – The Artist (Inside-Out POV)

On the inside is the artist trying to escape. The artist is represented by vibrant colors, emotional, intentional, creative, and visionary. There is a reason why she wants to escape. She’s got things to do… things to create…people to see, places to go… but she is restrained by the logical candy coating all around her.

We only see the Artist in the digital extension, a png file. The Artist is surrounded by all the vibrant colors, most notably my favorite color, cobalt blue.  The colors are intensely saturated. A digital profile image of myself is super imposed on the colorized version of the black and white oil painting and is moved all the way to the right edge of the canvas facing out and looking up into the light – hopeful for the escape. It feels like finding an opening after being stuck in the cave and finally seeing some blue sky and smelling fresh air. Freedom.

An Artist Trapped In Nerd’s Mind. (The Artist). Daeu Angert. Diary Collection. 2021. Digital Extension.

An Artist Trapped In Nerd’s Mind original oil painting is  available for purchase.

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