Conversation with Objects: Grendel the Skull, Nancy the Rabbit, and Murphy the Trophy. 2016. Group Exhibition.
Artist Statement
We are not alone; we are surrounded by a multitude of other vibrant and powerful entities - things. We give little attention to these other things, to these other objects, even though they fill our homes and our planet, impacting our lives in very real and felt ways. Our relationship with objects is a reciprocal one and should be acknowledged. Objects have their own agency and independent narrative realities, but they also exist alongside us within a network, informing and reflecting our personal identities; we are the sum of our connections to things.
As a maker of objects, I find it is important to assess their power and roles. To bring more things into the world, is to bear some responsibility for their existence. I feel this is especially true when resources are diminishing, trash piles are growing, and environmental disasters are becoming more frequent. We create, purchase, and use objects, but then discard and forget them, ignoring their own-going impact. Beyond this independent affect on the world, objects serve a purpose for us, past their stated function. Objects help fortify one's identity and serve as signposts for memories and for future goals. Additionally, the world reads us through the objects we possess and surround ourselves.
While my interest in objects spans from mundane to extraordinary, my work, "Conversation with Objects," focuses on three gifts that have been given to me over the course of ten years - Grendel the Skull, Nancy the Rabbit, and Murphy the Trophy.
My work is a concept map of my connections and of the shared narrative realities with these objects. The paintings serve as a physical synthesis of these points of connections and intersections - some are explorations into my understanding of the object's past, some are studies of the objects' material presence, and others are my psychological and emotional connections to these objects. I engage in conversation with Grendel, Nancy, and Murphy, often holding them as I paint, trying, through the act of painting and talking, to unravel the threads of connections we share.
As a maker of objects, I find it is important to assess their power and roles. To bring more things into the world, is to bear some responsibility for their existence. I feel this is especially true when resources are diminishing, trash piles are growing, and environmental disasters are becoming more frequent. We create, purchase, and use objects, but then discard and forget them, ignoring their own-going impact. Beyond this independent affect on the world, objects serve a purpose for us, past their stated function. Objects help fortify one's identity and serve as signposts for memories and for future goals. Additionally, the world reads us through the objects we possess and surround ourselves.
While my interest in objects spans from mundane to extraordinary, my work, "Conversation with Objects," focuses on three gifts that have been given to me over the course of ten years - Grendel the Skull, Nancy the Rabbit, and Murphy the Trophy.
My work is a concept map of my connections and of the shared narrative realities with these objects. The paintings serve as a physical synthesis of these points of connections and intersections - some are explorations into my understanding of the object's past, some are studies of the objects' material presence, and others are my psychological and emotional connections to these objects. I engage in conversation with Grendel, Nancy, and Murphy, often holding them as I paint, trying, through the act of painting and talking, to unravel the threads of connections we share.
Work
Installation view