As an artist I am interested in the idea of self as a body politic, something that society controls or overshadows. In this regard, my drawings address the consequence of a culture divided by the expectations of personal prosperity and the realities of sustainability.
My recent work is a series of large scale drawings in pastel which explore the contradictions in contemporary culture and the resulting consequences. Our consumption based economy, our media influenced identity and the unrealistic expectations of personal prosperity inspired by a constant barrage of messages from the media to consume/ renew/ refresh, have created a mountain of discarded commercial goods, cultural amnesia and the many spiritually impoverished “consumers” that exist today. This work articulates the restlessness and ambiguity of modern life exacerbated by messages from the media. This 21st century pace of information requires us to suspend our sense of personal space, identity and choice.
Collaborating with young actors, I stage a retelling of recent news events from printed media. The images are edited, with information erased or activated and combined with photographs that I have taken of the detritus from neighborhood streets. Each element is chosen as a piece in a narrative puzzle. The resulting collages become studies for drawings, some as large as 52 by 96 inches.These drawings have been described as biographies of the modern social experience, “still lives of modern living.”
Photos and press release for this artist.
Residency: October 2011 - January 2012
Art Exhibition: Friday, January 20 & Saturday, January 21