Patrick Bennett

I’m not perfect, and that’s okay. What’s perfection anyway? My mind works differently, and my emotions don’t fit the idea of society’s ideal construct. It took me a long time to understand that my imperfections are acceptable. All my life, until recently, the idea of perfection and a pursuit of perfection within everything that I did was always the goal. I guess I can owe this aspiration of perfection to my dad, who could also owe it to his father. It probably didn’t help me that, being in the military, an intense pursuit for perfection existed among us. This unseeable entity of perfection that had always lurched over me, peeking over my shoulder and pointing out my flaws, drove me to an unstable mental tipping point. At this moment of pure nakedness, stripped of all my secrets, I learned that I’m not perfect, and that’s okay. I knew my imperfections were unique and could be controlled by me, and me not by them. This new understanding and moments of clarity about myself and my emotions have found a place within me and my work. With my new understanding and ability to let go of perfection as an ideal, I have found an emotional freedom within me. With this new sense of freedom, I’ve allowed myself to create sculptures with the intent of connecting with universal themes, allowing audiences to build a relationship with my work by bringing in their own experiences and emotional connections. Mental health is fluid and unique. Anxiety and depression are not concrete, and we all experience them differently. My body of sculptural works reflects my imperfections and acts as a tool for me to process my understanding of what perfection is.