AMYSCAPE.COM
artist
statement
My name is Amy Duncan and my work is about friendship, relationships, and the oddities of life. Have you ever noticed how weird it is that you can go a whole day with something in your shoe without ever taking it off to investigate? Have you ever responded "you too!" to the movie ticket guy when he tells you to enjoy the show? And then you think, "He's not going to see this movie. You are a fool! Go back and say something!" I have. I know I probably shouldn't dwell on these things, but if I won't, who will?
I am interested in the visual possibilities that drawing can bring. Do you remember being a kid and having enough time to sit down and draw a picture? To me, there was always something magical about drawing. When you were a kid, you had no where you had to be. You drew just to, well, draw. Now it's all line weight variance and knowing the difference between a 2B and 4B pencil. (No, I do not know the difference and I refuse to learn.)
In this Contemporary scene, drawing doesn't seem to be as key of a player any longer. I think that's terribly sad and I think I can help this travesty. I make drawings and write stories to celebrate weird interactions between humans and to commemorate the unsurities of being a twenty-something in the workplace. I hope my work inspires people to care about the insignificant and to get lost in the moments.
Dwell on things that don't get enough attention. Allow your loved ones to geek out about silly things, like Nascar. Care about things. Talk about them. And make lots of artwork.
what does "amyscape" mean?
In the early 2000's, there was an internet gaming sensation known as Runescape. My two brothers raved about the game, but would not allow me to join in the conversation since I did not play.
They soon learned that this was a big mistake. Rather than find my own joys and be accepting of theirs, I made up my own version of Runescape called Amyscape. Whenever Jeff or Steven would brag about their Runescaping victory of the day, I would obnoxiously state that on Amyscape, there was actually more opportunities for success and grandeur. Amyscape grew into a running joke between my brothers and me as we grew into adulthood. It gradually became a symbol of a utopian sort of place where bad things couldn't happen to you.
I like to think of Amyscape as a place for my mind palace to thrive. The playful jabs and heart-warming mini-stories from my life that I so often share in my work are a glimpse into my brain. A juvenile sibling inside joke feels like one of the most appropriate ways to present my artwork to the world.
“Maybe that's why books get written, maybe that's why songs get sung. Maybe we owe the unlucky ones.”