GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Artists are already in Grand Rapids getting ready for ArtPrize 8 and while the pieces take center stage during the international competition, sometimes the story behind the art is just as beautiful.
Brian Delozier's ArtPrize entry will hang in the lobby of 99 Monroe Ave in Downtown Grand Rapids by the entrance to Panera Bread. The piece is fantastic, but the story behind it is just as stunning.
If you asked the teenage Delozier what he thought about art, he would've told you it was joke, caring more about sports than drawings. But when a skiing accident left him without feeling from the neck down and dependent on crutches at the active age of 16, Brian was left searching for a new passion, something he could create with his limited motor skills.
He found it through dots, lots of them. “I ended up just picking up the pen the best way that I could and the easiest thing for me to do was to start making dots," Delozier tells FOX 17. "And within probably 10 minutes of making this little section of dots, I really felt that although this was something so simple, it was something really special, that this could be what I’m looking for. Out of all things, a dot.”
The piece above is "Dot Nation", he started it a year ago when he first heard about Grand Rapids' ArtPrize. The 17' by 3' work is comprised of nearly 7.3 million fine tip dots, a 1,600 hour long project of concentration and drive for Delozier. “I eventually did get to that last dot and it was one of the greatest moments of my life. It was indescribable.”
Delozier believes that "Dot Nation" could be the largest pointilism piece in the world. To vote for Delozier's piece, use code 62794 once ArtPrize begins on September 22. You can also follow him on Facebook.
