Eating Strawberries Gallery: OPENING EXHIBITION: Seduced by the Scent of Nightshade

"Seduced by the Scent of Nightshade"
digital artist; Prelandra

ARTIST STATEMENT:
My name is Alyssa Hedrick, I go by the name Prelandra. Alyssa is from earth, our world. But Prelandra… she was born in another. She was the piece of my soul who felt she never belonged here. She was flying through the cosmos while Alyssa was simply staring at the clouds above her.
I started making digital artworks in 2004 once I learned how to use Photoshop in a graphic art class I took my senior year. It began as playing around, typical –horrible- editing to photos and it seemed to progress the more I learned- and soon I fell in love with it. I then started to take my own photos so I could make art for friends. I also had photos taken of me so I could place myself into the imaginary worlds I was creating as well as turn myself into other creatures. All of my art is for fun, purely for pleasure. It makes me happy as well as my friends whom I have made some art for as well.
My works have ranged from dark, grotesque, bloody and gothic to colorful, happy, magical and space oriented. It all depends on my mood while I am making the art, and of course what music I am blasting into my ears to erase the world around me- and help me focus on the one in front of me being born. I won’t lie, I have found a good cure for when my self-esteem is faltering… get dressed up and take some photos, then turn them into art. Erase the bland reality and splatter my own across the empty canvas. It really does wonders to see yourself as something new, different. To be the mermaid on the rock, instead of some unknown face. To be the warrior in a battle stance, facing a world of star fire. It is fun. Simple as that. I never grew out of my girly childhood ‘dress up’ phase. It merely evolved.