What sort of tools do we have to cope with our memories? It bears consideration that most of the conflict in the world today, as played out on an individual level, springs from unresolved issues that linger in our respective histories. These may take the form of sense memories - pieces of our past that retain an extra-sensory quality, drawing us through time to re-experience things that hold emotional resonance within our psyches. This is precisely the effect I am after in my art practice; my works are “time-machines,” and through them, my hope is that both maker and viewer can find a resolution, a shared memory that can bring a sense of peace.
Art-making is well understood to be a way in which emotions can be sorted and examined. For me personally as a white American male I feel this is particularly poignant and necessary for men, who are culturally discouraged from the human experience of having emotions, or voicing them in any way. Perhaps very young boys are afforded the leeway to express their own pain, but young men are quickly indoctrinated into a culture of social censure and self-editing that generally views emotion and sentiment as un-manly. To feel, it seems, is to call into question our very identity as males.
I am interested in bringing ordinary subjects to life, the mundane events or simple talents that people experience and then celebrating them to make them epic and important. I explore different ways to present my subjects by creating sculptural wooden forms that are akin to dioramas. The forms are simple shapes to achieve symmetry, order, and beauty. These shapes are part of the language of the universe and underline our everyday lives. I will then paint or carve my subjects and paint my scene over the wood form to create a depth of space and create an image distortion. I am playing with depth, perspective, and perception. What emerges in this work is a sense of play and story line that can be affected by someone's point of view. This sense of narrative and play is prevalent in all my pieces and is one of the things I am most excited about exploring in future work.
Art-making is well understood to be a way in which emotions can be sorted and examined. For me personally as a white American male I feel this is particularly poignant and necessary for men, who are culturally discouraged from the human experience of having emotions, or voicing them in any way. Perhaps very young boys are afforded the leeway to express their own pain, but young men are quickly indoctrinated into a culture of social censure and self-editing that generally views emotion and sentiment as un-manly. To feel, it seems, is to call into question our very identity as males.
I am interested in bringing ordinary subjects to life, the mundane events or simple talents that people experience and then celebrating them to make them epic and important. I explore different ways to present my subjects by creating sculptural wooden forms that are akin to dioramas. The forms are simple shapes to achieve symmetry, order, and beauty. These shapes are part of the language of the universe and underline our everyday lives. I will then paint or carve my subjects and paint my scene over the wood form to create a depth of space and create an image distortion. I am playing with depth, perspective, and perception. What emerges in this work is a sense of play and story line that can be affected by someone's point of view. This sense of narrative and play is prevalent in all my pieces and is one of the things I am most excited about exploring in future work.