Rowdy Wilson   artist statement: 

I am currently working with neon. Many people see only neon for commercial signs. However, I find that neon has allowed me to explore light and how it can be used as an individual art form or to enhance other artwork. Its luminescent colors draw the viewers to the work. It can be a reimage of vintage signs or three-dimensional artwork. In its bare form it is simply noble gas enclosed in glass tubing is the addition of electricity that brings it to life. As I am finishing a neon work it reminds me of the 1931 movie Frankenstein. I see all the electrical props in the laboratory and Dr. Frankenstein himself yelling “it’s alive” as the formally inanimate monster begins to move. When the neon atom electrons become excited from the energy applied to it, the artwork seems to come to life. It is the same every time I complete a piece of neon artwork. It creates a stunning visual that draws the viewer into the art.