E-Journal #6: Artist Statement - First Final Draft
Please post your revised artist statements in the comment section below. You must also email a copy to me at droe@rollins.edu before the start of class on Tuesday, February 15th.
This series of paintings highlight the irrational love pet owners have with domesticated canines. Not only is this series about my personal connection with my own Labrador Retriever, but it also comments on human connection with pets in general. My own human-animal relationship is not rare; people in the United States are infatuated by their pets. Dogs are fawned over, memorialized, painted, insured, and in some cases cloned. This series is meant to uncover and celebrate our undying love for pets, as a humorous reality.
Presented in this series is Simon, a large and lovable ten-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever. Simon is characterized in this series by his most prominent parts--nose, eyes, ears, jowls, paws, etc. Simon has been a part of my life since 2002 when my family adopted him from North Carolina. Before Simon, I had only spent three months of my twenty-two years dog-less. Because of an upbringing encompassed by dogs, it is impossible for me to imagine a world where dogs don’t exist. This series celebrates the crazy dog-lover in all of us; the irrational and illogical emotions between owner and animal inspired this series.
To better understand my own relationship and get a sense of how I wanted to conceptualize the series of paintings, I frequented dog parks, watched documentaries, read books, and researched articles discussing human-animal relationships. The process of creating each painting became a reflection on my relationship with Simon. The paintings portray the intimacy of our relationship, each composition showing my perspective in relation to him. That old adage ‘He that lieth down with Dogs, shall rise up with Fleas,’ does not pertain to my human-animal relationship. By focusing on creating each painting, I in-turn focused more on Simon, in reality. Simon was first photographed hundreds of times, then sketched, and finally painted. The resulting series consists of thirty-nine small-scale paintings illustrating the physical characteristics of Simon I hold dear. The paint is applied stylistically, almost illustrative. The style portrays Simon’s own playfulness and allows the viewer to understand the series as humorous, unlike tradition dog portraits which take on a serious tone. The repetition of the paintings reinforces the idea of the irresistible attraction of humans to dogs. The closely cropped composition of each painting reveals the intimate personal connection owners have with their dogs, and mine with Simon. By exploring my personal relationship with Simon, viewers will have an understanding of the inexplicable connection humans and animals share.
Growing up, I was quite often preoccupied with the idea of escaping a seemingly dark and dismal world to a brighter place. Like most children, I longed for true freedom, to be happy, and to surround myself with only the things I’d grown to love, often losing myself in dreams. Re:Awakening functions as a visual narrative elaborating this tale of inspiration and transformation, recapturing this childhood wonder alongside a reluctant awareness of adult concerns.
It is imperative for this story to be told in the format of a comic book for many reasons: first, the comic is a medium we are exposed to from the time we are children, continuing to present itself to us throughout our lives in vessels such as newspapers and graphic novels. The comic, or sequential art, is a universal language. It is easily the most genuine and comprehensible way to weave a narrative with or without the use of dialogue.
Specific narrative is, for the most part, left out in an effort to prompt the viewer to relate to the main character using his or her own personal dialogue. Photographic backgrounds are used in contrast with hand-illustrated cartoon subjects to depict the quintessential balance between reality and fantasy. To me, this balance is vital – I have always believed that dreams are an important aspect of who we are as individuals, giving us a chance to glimpse the futures that we strive to achieve, whether these are realistic or not. However, dreams should only serve as motivation and inspiration. There have been many times where my reality has not been personally ideal and I fell back on my dreams as an alternative to truly living – this is when I realized how important it was to instead use these dreams as “creative fuel” for my art, something that would bring me closer to building a future full of pragmatic, yet still whole, happiness.
My art attempts to convey the varying sensibilities of my identity in visual form. The sculptural works that I create form an expressionistic visual tale that asks the viewers to look beyond the surface to decipher. At 22 years old, just about to graduate college I am starting to figure out who I am and my place in the world. This exciting, yet scary time in my life, along with my father’s illness has influenced me into a period of self-reflection, from which my inspiration for my piece strives. During this time I have become cognizant of the emotions and values that are most important to me to live by. I feel my story is important to tell, because the emotions I attempt to convey are common feelings we as human beings have experienced at some point in our lifetime.
Utilizing and incorporating a range of both found and created objects and materials, I have created a series of cabinets that express common emotions of comfort, strength, weakness, compassion, determination, fear, growth, struggle, loss, and happiness. I am using wood, as the primary material for constructing the cabinets as wood itself is strong, and even when manipulated is still aesthetically pleasing. In this way, wood becomes a metaphorical representation of who I am, covered in flaws, while remaining unique and strong.
I am using the familiar cabinet form in order to reference the concept of seen versus unseen (what we as human beings are comfortable showing and what we fear to show). Each cabinet represents a different value I have come to live by in my life through my own personal experience. By varying the position of the cabinet doors, I juxtapose vulnerability and comfort. For instance, one cabinet has no doors at all to convey a sense of pride and strength. Here I use a chaotic rope formation inside the cabinet contrasted with a white picket fence on the outside, calling attention to the relationship between expectations of perfection and the reality of who I really am, and by extension, who we all really are.
Along with the materials and objects used, and the positioning of the doors, I place heavy emphasize on the formal elements of each cabinet as well. Whether it keeping drilled wholes unfilled or taking the doors off the cabinet, everything is done purposefully in order to convey the specific emotions I mention above. My decision to use antique cabinets and found objects has to do with the idea of memory. Memory evokes a sense of past experience, which is the foundation for my series. I believe that primarily utilizing used material will enable my viewers to connect with m work on a more relatable and personal level. Something new lacks history, but history is what brings self-reflection.
Overall, my goal is to connect with my audience on a personal and emotional level through this series. We as human beings have all experienced pain, loss, and struggle at some point in our lives. These experiences are what help us to grow and become stronger as human beings. I think it is also a common happening while growing up to question/ doubt yourself, which is why I made the “this is who I am” cabinet. I hope this lifts my audience up in someway if need be, giving them a sense of empowerment, reminding them to always remain true to who you are.
This series of photographs examines how interpersonal individual relationships are affected by military service. The splitting of paths and the reconnections inherent to these experiences are addressed within individually constructed images that depict fragmentary portions of myself, my best friend, Ryan and significant and recognizable symbols of the U.S. armed forces. This work also looks at the inner struggles of being a part of the military and the conflicting nature of this identity during wartime.
This series embodies my emotional state over the four years that Ryan and I were apart and examines our reconnection as we came back into each other’s lives. Certain images are suggestive of Ryan’s altered physical and psychological state upon return. These seek to examine and validate the struggle to understand and deal with the experience of combat warfare. The photographs are close up images with little outside information to capture the emotions of each object and person and to focus your attention on the small details incorporated within each one. The sizes of the photographs are important, as is how they are hung on the wall. I made large prints because of their importance and to create a larger visual impact, giving the viewers the ability to step away from them and come closer to see the details. The color palette mimics the color palette of military and desert colors to keep the viewer’s mind in Iraq.
Also included in this series are snapshots created with my friend’s camera while he was stationed in Iraq. He is letting me share these with you in this space to offer a better understanding of the events he lived through, which I could not have otherwise effectively shown. There are eight photographs that are being displayed in a grid. I chose these eight because of their content and aesthetics. Their overall content and outside information is important here, which is why they are placed at either end of my series of photograph. They are repeated in the grid multiple times to reinforce their content and examine our desensitization to wartime images. As “bookends” to my series they create a loop and to bring the viewer back to the conflict of ethics in my work.
The focus of this series considers the impact of deeply personal relationships alongside the poignancy of human loss, sacrifice, and the difficulties in comprehending the ethical dilemmas surrounding military involvement and war. If nothing else I hope you walk away from this work with thoughts and questions regarding the content I am presenting to you.
In today's fast paced society, our individual identities become a blur to the people we encounter. We are judged within seconds of meeting someone according to our physical features, our accents and how we dress ourselves. Inevitably, superficial conclusions are drawn based upon how we present ourselves to others. As someone with three distinct and personally significant cultural backgrounds, establishing my identity has been a struggle.
My current work addresses these issues within a series of soft sculptures. The ambiguity and influence of various identities is conveyed through hybrid flags representative of the three regions I have lived and identify myself with: Switzerland, America and the United Kingdom. In terms of materials, I deliberately work with textiles that are familiar and relatable. To construct the flags, I have deconstructed denim jeans and re-sewn the pieces to produce a patch-work identity. I incorporate this specific apparel due to its textural quality and ability to meld together, as well as to reinforce the idea of merging specific regions and cultures into a concrete structure. Each color and material choice was a thought out process which, when put together, portrays the tension between distinct cultures being forced together to create a coherent whole. The construction of the flags and stylistic details accentuates the deterioration of the material, resulting in a washed out, gritty color palette that evokes feelings of nostalgia, suggesting a loss of cultural identity.
Burning portions of the flag physically manifests the frustration one encounters when struggling to create a solid sense of self and belonging when there is not one true fit. To bring cohesion to the top layer of each flag, I overlaid road maps of the city centers in which I lived: Zurich, London and Orlando. Dennis Wood has written that "maps serve the purpose of location" and "alleviate the anxiety of being lost". To me, roads symbolize multitudes of unknown and unfamiliar directions, while maps ensure that we are never completely lost along their paths. I use these road maps to reference a sense of belonging. The lines follow the organic nature of the flags and create a juxtaposition between control and chaos. The lines can be read as roots that serve the purpose of establishing a solid foundation of stability while also referencing the instability of cultural identity.
I believe the content of this work is ubiquitous in that everyone has either experiences, or is familiar with, ambiguous sense of identity. Typically, flags serve the purpose of portraying national identity and evoke feelings of pride and patriotism, where as the flags I have created evoke feelings of instability due to their loyalty to various regions. They have become visual representations and honest chronicles of my development as an individual, and function as both an escape from and confrontation with the challenges that come from establishing a sense of self.
The gestures in these paintings do not so much exist in a physical realm but rather occupy a psychological state of mind. They represent notions of self as being constantly redefined, conflicting with the pressures between the external world and our internal monologues. How do we define our identities and what becomes of ourselves when we are forced to reconstruct them? I view myself somewhat fractured, without a single all-defining portrait, but rather view myself with various roles creating my character.
The painted figures, depicting myself, are superimposed with afterimages that allude to the motion captured in photographs that exploit slow shutter speeds. An arm is shown three times as it moves away from the torso. Depicting portions of the body as fading and indistinct emphasizes movement and transition as the figures are not solely fixed in one pose but in the middle of action. In some instances, the face becomes blurred and distorted for the viewer. When the face is not distorted, other elements of the figure covers the face. Without the face--a central key to identity--the identity of the figure is lost. Faces emerge from the black abyss only to fade back away as the head turns. The body appears to be disappearing as detailed rendering leads to quick brushstrokes that blends into the background. The gestures of the figures evoke movement with strong diagonal lines and twisting of the torso. Nothing is left solid.
The gestures present juxtaposition between the static quality of a painting and the subject matter dealing with change. The viewer becomes more aware of the movement of the gesture when the figure is presented in the static medium. By using several glazes, I can portray several figures in one composition to illustrate the varied notions of self contained in one state of mind. Putting several portraits together creates a sense of confusion as our perception attempts to make unify the portraits. The layers of paint also portray a transition of time as the figure is slowly built. While these paintings are autobiographical in nature, the commentary on identity is universal. We all sometimes find ourselves in a moment of neither her nor there as we look to find ourselves.
My family has made its living in the housing industry for over thirty years. My father was a construction manager and my mother a realtor. History has demonstrated that the housing market is the first to go and the last to come back in a recession, but the exaggerated loss of housing values in the present economy has affected sectors outside of the housing industry as well. I grew up accompanying my mother as she put up real estate signs, helping with her brochures, going to open houses, and being around construction sites, but it was not until this current housing crash that the general public became increasingly aware of these real-estate visuals too. My work incorporates these familiar signs and symbols in an attempt to point out the inconsistencies within this corrupted market.
In order to draw out the discrepancies within the real-estate market, I incorporate materials commonly used in this industry in an effort to reclaim its message of the “American Dream.” By reappropriating these symbols that have become common to us all during the recent recession, I draw attention to the realities of the recession. My style blends with the genre, but the language contrasts the images around it. It is meant to interrupt conventional responses to everyday real-estate signs by its simplistic bluntness in questioning the ethics of our government, banks and real-estate market. This disruption is in order to bring awareness to the misuse of power and the struggles it has brought to the American people. The viewer is forced to deal with and acknowledge these social issues.
My art intends to capture the period in which it was created by utilizing real-estate signs. My signs will mimic the industries signs visually at first glance, but my text will comment on the housing crash and the current recession. I seek to create a pictorial reflection of the impact current social, economic, and cultural issues have had on American families. The work is in part a commentary about the unexpected situations that many were forced to deal with due to the major drop in our economy. Individuals and families from varied socio-economic backgrounds were forced to alter their everyday lives. These drastic societal changes have left many feeling frustrated, confused, depressed, and disenfranchised.
I explore the power of language, similar to that of Jenny Holzer and Barbra Kruger, who use mainstream images to comment on the very ideas they are disputing. In my case, I use real estate signs with messages to create insight and understanding into the predicament that people find themselves in through no fault of their own. This helps to portray the message that you have to be an active participant and pay attention to the actions of others as they may end up dictating your future. Prior to the housing crash, the only sign people wanted to see was sold, and in the end bad things happened to good people. My signs are meant to inform the viewer and hopefully provoke a desire for change and transformation.
This series of paintings highlight the irrational love pet owners have with domesticated canines. Not only is this series about my personal connection with my own Labrador Retriever, but it also comments on human connection with pets in general. My own human-animal relationship is not rare; people in the United States are infatuated by their pets. Dogs are fawned over, memorialized, painted, insured, and in some cases cloned. This series is meant to uncover and celebrate our undying love for pets, as a humorous reality.
ReplyDeletePresented in this series is Simon, a large and lovable ten-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever. Simon is characterized in this series by his most prominent parts--nose, eyes, ears, jowls, paws, etc. Simon has been a part of my life since 2002 when my family adopted him from North Carolina. Before Simon, I had only spent three months of my twenty-two years dog-less. Because of an upbringing encompassed by dogs, it is impossible for me to imagine a world where dogs don’t exist. This series celebrates the crazy dog-lover in all of us; the irrational and illogical emotions between owner and animal inspired this series.
To better understand my own relationship and get a sense of how I wanted to conceptualize the series of paintings, I frequented dog parks, watched documentaries, read books, and researched articles discussing human-animal relationships. The process of creating each painting became a reflection on my relationship with Simon. The paintings portray the intimacy of our relationship, each composition showing my perspective in relation to him. That old adage ‘He that lieth down with Dogs, shall rise up with Fleas,’ does not pertain to my human-animal relationship. By focusing on creating each painting, I in-turn focused more on Simon, in reality. Simon was first photographed hundreds of times, then sketched, and finally painted. The resulting series consists of thirty-nine small-scale paintings illustrating the physical characteristics of Simon I hold dear. The paint is applied stylistically, almost illustrative. The style portrays Simon’s own playfulness and allows the viewer to understand the series as humorous, unlike tradition dog portraits which take on a serious tone. The repetition of the paintings reinforces the idea of the irresistible attraction of humans to dogs. The closely cropped composition of each painting reveals the intimate personal connection owners have with their dogs, and mine with Simon. By exploring my personal relationship with Simon, viewers will have an understanding of the inexplicable connection humans and animals share.
Growing up, I was quite often preoccupied with the idea of escaping a seemingly dark and dismal world to a brighter place. Like most children, I longed for true freedom, to be happy, and to surround myself with only the things I’d grown to love, often losing myself in dreams. Re:Awakening functions as a visual narrative elaborating this tale of inspiration and transformation, recapturing this childhood wonder alongside a reluctant awareness of adult concerns.
ReplyDeleteIt is imperative for this story to be told in the format of a comic book for many reasons: first, the comic is a medium we are exposed to from the time we are children, continuing to present itself to us throughout our lives in vessels such as newspapers and graphic novels. The comic, or sequential art, is a universal language. It is easily the most genuine and comprehensible way to weave a narrative with or without the use of dialogue.
Specific narrative is, for the most part, left out in an effort to prompt the viewer to relate to the main character using his or her own personal dialogue. Photographic backgrounds are used in contrast with hand-illustrated cartoon subjects to depict the quintessential balance between reality and fantasy. To me, this balance is vital – I have always believed that dreams are an important aspect of who we are as individuals, giving us a chance to glimpse the futures that we strive to achieve, whether these are realistic or not. However, dreams should only serve as motivation and inspiration. There have been many times where my reality has not been personally ideal and I fell back on my dreams as an alternative to truly living – this is when I realized how important it was to instead use these dreams as “creative fuel” for my art, something that would bring me closer to building a future full of pragmatic, yet still whole, happiness.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLacy Goodwyn
ReplyDeleteArtist Statement
My art attempts to convey the varying sensibilities of my identity in visual form. The sculptural works that I create form an expressionistic visual tale that asks the viewers to look beyond the surface to decipher. At 22 years old, just about to graduate college I am starting to figure out who I am and my place in the world. This exciting, yet scary time in my life, along with my father’s illness has influenced me into a period of self-reflection, from which my inspiration for my piece strives. During this time I have become cognizant of the emotions and values that are most important to me to live by. I feel my story is important to tell, because the emotions I attempt to convey are common feelings we as human beings have experienced at some point in our lifetime.
Utilizing and incorporating a range of both found and created objects and materials, I have created a series of cabinets that express common emotions of comfort, strength, weakness, compassion, determination, fear, growth, struggle, loss, and happiness. I am using wood, as the primary material for constructing the cabinets as wood itself is strong, and even when manipulated is still aesthetically pleasing. In this way, wood becomes a metaphorical representation of who I am, covered in flaws, while remaining unique and strong.
I am using the familiar cabinet form in order to reference the concept of seen versus unseen (what we as human beings are comfortable showing and what we fear to show). Each cabinet represents a different value I have come to live by in my life through my own personal experience. By varying the position of the cabinet doors, I juxtapose vulnerability and comfort. For instance, one cabinet has no doors at all to convey a sense of pride and strength. Here I use a chaotic rope formation inside the cabinet contrasted with a white picket fence on the outside, calling attention to the relationship between expectations of perfection and the reality of who I really am, and by extension, who we all really are.
Along with the materials and objects used, and the positioning of the doors, I place heavy emphasize on the formal elements of each cabinet as well. Whether it keeping drilled wholes unfilled or taking the doors off the cabinet, everything is done purposefully in order to convey the specific emotions I mention above. My decision to use antique cabinets and found objects has to do with the idea of memory. Memory evokes a sense of past experience, which is the foundation for my series. I believe that primarily utilizing used material will enable my viewers to connect with m work on a more relatable and personal level. Something new lacks history, but history is what brings self-reflection.
Overall, my goal is to connect with my audience on a personal and emotional level through this series. We as human beings have all experienced pain, loss, and struggle at some point in our lives. These experiences are what help us to grow and become stronger as human beings. I think it is also a common happening while growing up to question/ doubt yourself, which is why I made the “this is who I am” cabinet. I hope this lifts my audience up in someway if need be, giving them a sense of empowerment, reminding them to always remain true to who you are.
Margaret Rowland
ReplyDeleteArtist Statement
This series of photographs examines how interpersonal individual relationships are affected by military service. The splitting of paths and the reconnections inherent to these experiences are addressed within individually constructed images that depict fragmentary portions of myself, my best friend, Ryan and significant and recognizable symbols of the U.S. armed forces. This work also looks at the inner struggles of being a part of the military and the conflicting nature of this identity during wartime.
This series embodies my emotional state over the four years that Ryan and I were apart and examines our reconnection as we came back into each other’s lives. Certain images are suggestive of Ryan’s altered physical and psychological state upon return. These seek to examine and validate the struggle to understand and deal with the experience of combat warfare. The photographs are close up images with little outside information to capture the emotions of each object and person and to focus your attention on the small details incorporated within each one. The sizes of the photographs are important, as is how they are hung on the wall. I made large prints because of their importance and to create a larger visual impact, giving the viewers the ability to step away from them and come closer to see the details. The color palette mimics the color palette of military and desert colors to keep the viewer’s mind in Iraq.
Also included in this series are snapshots created with my friend’s camera while he was stationed in Iraq. He is letting me share these with you in this space to offer a better understanding of the events he lived through, which I could not have otherwise effectively shown. There are eight photographs that are being displayed in a grid. I chose these eight because of their content and aesthetics. Their overall content and outside information is important here, which is why they are placed at either end of my series of photograph. They are repeated in the grid multiple times to reinforce their content and examine our desensitization to wartime images. As “bookends” to my series they create a loop and to bring the viewer back to the conflict of ethics in my work.
The focus of this series considers the impact of deeply personal relationships alongside the poignancy of human loss, sacrifice, and the difficulties in comprehending the ethical dilemmas surrounding military involvement and war. If nothing else I hope you walk away from this work with thoughts and questions regarding the content I am presenting to you.
In today's fast paced society, our individual identities become a blur to the people we encounter. We are judged within seconds of meeting someone according to our physical features, our accents and how we dress ourselves. Inevitably, superficial conclusions are drawn based upon how we present ourselves to others. As someone with three distinct and personally significant cultural backgrounds, establishing my identity has been a struggle.
ReplyDeleteMy current work addresses these issues within a series of soft sculptures. The ambiguity and influence of various identities is conveyed through hybrid flags representative of the three regions I have lived and identify myself with: Switzerland, America and the United Kingdom. In terms of materials, I deliberately work with textiles that are familiar and relatable. To construct the flags, I have deconstructed denim jeans and re-sewn the pieces to produce a patch-work identity. I incorporate this specific apparel due to its textural quality and ability to meld together, as well as to reinforce the idea of merging specific regions and cultures into a concrete structure. Each color and material choice was a thought out process which, when put together, portrays the tension between distinct cultures being forced together to create a coherent whole.
The construction of the flags and stylistic details accentuates the deterioration of the material, resulting in a washed out, gritty color palette that evokes feelings of nostalgia, suggesting a loss of cultural identity.
Burning portions of the flag physically manifests the frustration one encounters when struggling to create a solid sense of self and belonging when there is not one true fit. To bring cohesion to the top layer of each flag, I overlaid road maps of the city centers in which I lived: Zurich, London and Orlando. Dennis Wood has written that "maps serve the purpose of location" and "alleviate the anxiety of being lost". To me, roads symbolize multitudes of unknown and unfamiliar directions, while maps ensure that we are never completely lost along their paths. I use these road maps to reference a sense of belonging. The lines follow the organic nature of the flags and create a juxtaposition between control and chaos. The lines can be read as roots that serve the purpose of establishing a solid foundation of stability while also referencing the instability of cultural identity.
I believe the content of this work is ubiquitous in that everyone has either experiences, or is familiar with, ambiguous sense of identity. Typically, flags serve the purpose of portraying national identity and evoke feelings of pride and patriotism, where as the flags I have created evoke feelings of instability due to their loyalty to various regions. They have become visual representations and honest chronicles of my development as an individual, and function as both an escape from and confrontation with the challenges that come from establishing a sense of self.
The gestures in these paintings do not so much exist in a physical realm but rather occupy a psychological state of mind. They represent notions of self as being constantly redefined, conflicting with the pressures between the external world and our internal monologues. How do we define our identities and what becomes of ourselves when we are forced to reconstruct them? I view myself somewhat fractured, without a single all-defining portrait, but rather view myself with various roles creating my character.
ReplyDeleteThe painted figures, depicting myself, are superimposed with afterimages that allude to the motion captured in photographs that exploit slow shutter speeds. An arm is shown three times as it moves away from the torso. Depicting portions of the body as fading and indistinct emphasizes movement and transition as the figures are not solely fixed in one pose but in the middle of action. In some instances, the face becomes blurred and distorted for the viewer. When the face is not distorted, other elements of the figure covers the face. Without the face--a central key to identity--the identity of the figure is lost. Faces emerge from the black abyss only to fade back away as the head turns. The body appears to be disappearing as detailed rendering leads to quick brushstrokes that blends into the background. The gestures of the figures evoke movement with strong diagonal lines and twisting of the torso. Nothing is left solid.
The gestures present juxtaposition between the static quality of a painting and the subject matter dealing with change. The viewer becomes more aware of the movement of the gesture when the figure is presented in the static medium. By using several glazes, I can portray several figures in one composition to illustrate the varied notions of self contained in one state of mind. Putting several portraits together creates a sense of confusion as our perception attempts to make unify the portraits. The layers of paint also portray a transition of time as the figure is slowly built. While these paintings are autobiographical in nature, the commentary on identity is universal. We all sometimes find ourselves in a moment of neither her nor there as we look to find ourselves.
I can't wait to see the work!
ReplyDeleteMy family has made its living in the housing industry for over thirty years. My father was a construction manager and my mother a realtor. History has demonstrated that the housing market is the first to go and the last to come back in a recession, but the exaggerated loss of housing values in the present economy has affected sectors outside of the housing industry as well. I grew up accompanying my mother as she put up real estate signs, helping with her brochures, going to open houses, and being around construction sites, but it was not until this current housing crash that the general public became increasingly aware of these real-estate visuals too.
ReplyDeleteMy work incorporates these familiar signs and symbols in an attempt to point out the inconsistencies within this corrupted market.
In order to draw out the discrepancies within the real-estate market, I incorporate materials commonly used in this industry in an effort to reclaim its message of the “American Dream.” By reappropriating these symbols that have become common to us all during the recent recession, I draw attention to the realities of the recession. My style blends with the genre, but the language contrasts the images around it. It is meant to interrupt conventional responses to everyday real-estate signs by its simplistic bluntness in questioning the ethics of our government, banks and real-estate market. This disruption is in order to bring awareness to the misuse of power and the struggles it has brought to the American people. The viewer is forced to deal with and acknowledge these social issues.
My art intends to capture the period in which it was created by utilizing real-estate signs. My signs will mimic the industries signs visually at first glance, but my text will comment on the housing crash and the current recession. I seek to create a pictorial reflection of the impact current social, economic, and cultural issues have had on American families. The work is in part a commentary about the unexpected situations that many were forced to deal with due to the major drop in our economy. Individuals and families from varied socio-economic backgrounds were forced to alter their everyday lives. These drastic societal changes have left many feeling frustrated, confused, depressed, and disenfranchised.
I explore the power of language, similar to that of Jenny Holzer and Barbra Kruger, who use mainstream images to comment on the very ideas they are disputing. In my case, I use real estate signs with messages to create insight and understanding into the predicament that people find themselves in through no fault of their own. This helps to portray the message that you have to be an active participant and pay attention to the actions of others as they may end up dictating your future. Prior to the housing crash, the only sign people wanted to see was sold, and in the end bad things happened to good people. My signs are meant to inform the viewer and hopefully provoke a desire for change and transformation.