The
ability to notice things in the interstices of the day-to-day, I feel is the main
characteristic of an artist. I feel that the objects and imagery i use within
my work resonate in the memory with such poignancy is an exemplification in the
quality of my noticing. Utilizing photo montage as a medium i am
able to create small intricate pieces possessing raw emotional honesty. My work
captures Fragments of experiences and moments in time where the
inherent vulnerability of the figure is palpable.
My
work focuses on intimacy and vulnerability utilizing photo montage, drawing and
ink and water. In my work I attempt to slow down and contemplate each moment
rather than being caught up in the frenzy of life, this has helped me engage an
awareness of self, which helps me express true catharsis within my work. I wish
to convey vulnerability, which we imagine to be uniquely ours is in fact common
to all humanity. I communicate this through combining aspects of human and
insect anatomy to create a hybrid; creating a sense of other worldliness.
I use Insect
symbolically as they can hold clear and
powerful visual representations of my ideas.
Insects have symbolized many qualities, including
change, social harmony, pestilence, disease,
death, etc. While certain insects inspire specific and somewhat universal
symbolic associations (e. g, flies with disease, death and pestilence) symbols
are often contextually dependent. I often use insects that go through
metamorphosis as they end with an eclosion; for me, a metaphor for an epiphany.
Insects make good symbols because they often induce an emotional
response, which is the main aspect involved in my work.
Harriet
Bell has greatly inspired the style of my work: her montages of mutant humans
crossed with animals, are possessed of an elemental beauty: which I have
emulated within the style of my work. I gather and collect images and pieces of
paper from people that I find to be important. For example old photographs of
people that are close to me, and pieces of paper that belong to them.