Creatures of Context. 2012. Solo Exhibition.
Artist Statement
“For me context is the key – from that comes the understanding of everything.” – Kenneth Noland[1]
Context is everything. Context is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as being the “circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed[2].” The context of an idea, an item, or a person greatly influences how that subject is perceived. Everything has multiple contextual layers ranging from the physical framing the subject to the observer’s psychological perspectives including gender, race, religion, age, knowledge, and personal experiences. It is the impact that context has on our perception that I seek to explore through my work.
In my current work, I have tackled this idea through the use of animal imagery. Animals have been used in stories throughout history, especially in fables which anthropomorphizes them to represent certain human characteristics and personalities. The following statement about Aesop has been accredited to Apollonius, a 1st century AD philosopher:
[H]e puts animals in a pleasing light and makes them interesting to mankind. For after being brought up from childhood with these stories . . . , we acquire certain opinions of the several animals and think of some of them as royal animals, of others as silly, of others as witty, and others as innocent[3].
The symbolizations of animals established in fables, myths, religions, and even popular culture have, as Apollonius says, shaped our opinion of these creatures, and our opinions have little to do with the actual animal. In my paintings and ceramic works, I do not criticize the existence of differing contexts, but hope to make the viewer aware of their influences. For the animals within the paintings, their most immediate contexts are the two illusionary spaces created for them within the canvases. One space is the creature’s natural environment, while the other is one symbolizing the constructed frameworks we place them in through our stories and popular culture. Some animals have made their way out of these boundaries and moved into the gallery as ceramic sculptures. Even though they have escaped one set of contexts, the sculptures have entered the larger contextual layer of the gallery itself.
Through my works, I hope to promote an evaluation of the dynamics between individuals and their changing contexts. By examining and acknowledging the power context possesses, we can better understand how we are interpreting the world and how the world is interpreting us. Context is one thing we can never escape; we are all creatures of context.
[1]Kenneth Noland. “The Bennington Years.” University of Hartford. March 1988. Web. 14 Feb. 2012
[2] “Context.” Oxford Dictionaries. 2012. Web. 14 Feb. 2012.
[3] Flavius Philostratus. Apollonius of Tyana. Trans. F.C. Conybeare. Web. 14 Feb. 2012
Context is everything. Context is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as being the “circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed[2].” The context of an idea, an item, or a person greatly influences how that subject is perceived. Everything has multiple contextual layers ranging from the physical framing the subject to the observer’s psychological perspectives including gender, race, religion, age, knowledge, and personal experiences. It is the impact that context has on our perception that I seek to explore through my work.
In my current work, I have tackled this idea through the use of animal imagery. Animals have been used in stories throughout history, especially in fables which anthropomorphizes them to represent certain human characteristics and personalities. The following statement about Aesop has been accredited to Apollonius, a 1st century AD philosopher:
[H]e puts animals in a pleasing light and makes them interesting to mankind. For after being brought up from childhood with these stories . . . , we acquire certain opinions of the several animals and think of some of them as royal animals, of others as silly, of others as witty, and others as innocent[3].
The symbolizations of animals established in fables, myths, religions, and even popular culture have, as Apollonius says, shaped our opinion of these creatures, and our opinions have little to do with the actual animal. In my paintings and ceramic works, I do not criticize the existence of differing contexts, but hope to make the viewer aware of their influences. For the animals within the paintings, their most immediate contexts are the two illusionary spaces created for them within the canvases. One space is the creature’s natural environment, while the other is one symbolizing the constructed frameworks we place them in through our stories and popular culture. Some animals have made their way out of these boundaries and moved into the gallery as ceramic sculptures. Even though they have escaped one set of contexts, the sculptures have entered the larger contextual layer of the gallery itself.
Through my works, I hope to promote an evaluation of the dynamics between individuals and their changing contexts. By examining and acknowledging the power context possesses, we can better understand how we are interpreting the world and how the world is interpreting us. Context is one thing we can never escape; we are all creatures of context.
[1]Kenneth Noland. “The Bennington Years.” University of Hartford. March 1988. Web. 14 Feb. 2012
[2] “Context.” Oxford Dictionaries. 2012. Web. 14 Feb. 2012.
[3] Flavius Philostratus. Apollonius of Tyana. Trans. F.C. Conybeare. Web. 14 Feb. 2012
Work