Art on Violence.
My work strives to find a coherent link between the synthetic and the real. The hyper mediation of modern society has made it increasingly difficult to discern the difference between a true experience and its artificial counterparts. The internet, capitalism, consumerism, the mass-media, Hollywood, television, etc.; have imposed a world of artifice onto the natural world. This is all in contribution to the dilution of the natural human experience.
I use material in a physical aggressive way to emphasize my expressivity. I work quickly as to not let my conscious aesthetical aspirations get in the way of my innate response to the material. This automatic process channels my unconscious into the work. This Art is a manifestation of human expression and a representation of the unconscious human experience. The materials are often worked and reworked excessively to produce a history of marks within each peace.
I use black in my work because the colors of the materials I am using become arbitrary. Color is used to transmit meaning through representation; whereas, the concepts in my sculptures are derived from the evidence of my physical interaction with the material. I work in forms that relate to the body as to create a means of approach for the viewer. I want my audience to relate their own body to these representations of bodies, and at the same time realize the embodiment of a process; this links the artificial with the natural.
History of a Process
Subtle traces of the early stages of this process can be found in the surrealist drawing’s that I was created while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I used an automatic drawing technique that I believe acted as a litmus paper for the mood of my unconscious. My drawing’s often start out with a series of automatic, spontaneous gestured marks. The subsequent lines occurred in spontaneous relation to the marks that were laid down before them. The variation of colors were used to break up the compositional space and allow for more distinctive forms to take shape, particularly faces and abstracted landscapes with skewed perspectives . I borrowed Dali’s “Paranoiac Critical Method” in order to draw a tonal reflection of my unconscious. As I comprised a series of these drawings I was able to look at them from a broader scope; this allowed me to see the tonal patterns that existed between them. Through this investigation I found that my physical and mental state was altering the overall feeling encapsulated within each drawing. Similar to my later work, I never set out to create any specific form or representation in these drawings. The images were brought to fruition by way of a quick manic aggressive drawing style. Later on, I would to translate this attitude towards material in other mediums.
I began to use paint with the intention of transforming my dry media process into wet media. I wanted to create images like my drawings; only on a larger scale. I was interested in vibrant colors as well. In dry media the only source for the chroma I was looking for were oil colored pencils. I found it was incredibly time consuming, and none the less impractical to use colored pencils for large scale images. When I began working with oil paints I realized that I was more interested the mediums versatility then in the images I was making. I was still interested in capturing my unconscious, and continued to work in the same automatic way as I had with drawing. As a began to build a repertoire of marks, I realized that paint offered a wider variety of “tricks” then that of any dry media I had used. Instead of creating somewhat recognizable images of faces and landscapes my paintings quickly entered the realm of expressive abstractions.
I realized that the liquidity of paint allowed for expressive gestures that could hold their own content. This was the entirely new way for me to think about making meaning in my work. I moved away from strictly oil paints and began to experience with acrylic and latex paint; as well as a variety of polymers and varnishes. My works become a conversation with me and the medium. Instead of using paint as a tool for representation I was using it to capture expressive gestures.
Jackson Pollock and the abstract expressionists became an immediate conceptual roadblock for this work. The materiality of the paint was undeniable for me. However, I was seeking to embody a process that reflected my unconscious, and not to make a statement about the history of painting. My frustrations with the lack of authority I had over how I was using paint began to manifest itself in my work. I began to inflict my work with increasingly destructive gestures. I would break the paintings down then piece them back together. I cut them with razor blades and tempered them with fire. In further attempts to “kill” the Jackson Pollock in my work , I began to use materials other then paint. I implemented nails, string, aerosol foam, and plastic resins.
As this process developed my work began to look less like paintings and more like sculptures. Eventually, it no longer seemed practical to work off of a single two-dimensional frame that was meant to be hung off of a wall. When a moved to sculpture I was able to use a wider variety of materials. I started out using these materials in a more representational manner, as seen in some of my earlier drawings. With this newfound ability to represent in three dimensions, I was confronted with the challenge of deciding what subjects I wanted to address. I used wooden banisters to construct a seated human form. The relationship between the wood figure and the wood chair created a conceptual nuance that compelled me to further investigate the relationship between material and content. The gesture of the figure suggested pain and suffering. I put a black hood on the figure and the piece immediately attached itself to the current social concern of torture. Though this piece was formally provocative and addressed an issue that I deem very important; it was more of an individualized political statement then a part of my ongoing process.
I wanted to get back to the idea of embodiment and an infusion of the synthetic and the real. To do this I needed to use restraint. I liked the materials I was working with but I needed to use them in a way that left more to the viewers interpretation. If I was going to get my audience to reflect on my content I needed there to be more ambiguity. I needed to find a way to enable my process and materials to initiate a conversation with my audience . I began to make abstracted bodily forms that embodied the process of violence that had began with the destruction of my earlier paintings.
“Not.” , a series of sculptures, aims to comment on the over aestheticization of violence in modern society. As I said earlier, I want my work to channel my life’s experience in a way that is applicable to my audience. My experience of war is a lingering reality that has been coming forth in my work Violence has always been present in the societies of man, as it is a reality in nature. Only in recent history have aesthetic representations of it been so prevalent. Violence is depicted in high art, film, video games, and mass media in a way that glorifies its existence in nature. At the same time the viewer of these representations of horror is depersonalized from the actual subjects of these acts. We, as a culture, have become desensitized toward violence to the extent that its reality and its representation have become almost indistinguishable.
Human beings are attracted to the artificial experience of violence because it connects us with our mortality. A violent action exploit’s the vulnerability of the human body, and behind any episode of violence is the threat of death. I believe we gravitate toward representations of violence because it is simply our nature. The "flight of fight" mechanics of the human mind are stimulated in a hypothetical sense through experience of these sorts of images. Rather then creating realistic representations of violence I create purposefully aesthetic representations. I do this to draw attention to the distinct difference between the actual experience of violence and its synthetic counterparts.
I provide a shattered puzzle that can be constructed differently by each onlooker. These visual experiences evoke violence but leave the horrific details up to the viewers imagination. I use this strategy because, as human beings, we all deal with a physical trauma differently. My audience is forced to construct their own understanding of the abstract visual scenarios I create. This forms a sophisticated connection between the viewer, the representation of violence ,and the real thing.
Though I am currently dealing with the subject of violence and its relationship with the body. I believe that in the future my process will adopt new subjects, that I am confronted with in life. I want to continue to work with material in a way that harnesses my unconscious. I have an anxiety for specificity. The things that I create must be the unadulterated externalization of my unconscious relationship with time and space.
Materials
The materials I use in my sculptures are almost as spontaneously chosen as the actions a inflict on them. While traveling in Berlin in the summer of 2006 I came across several “independent art shops” in unassuming districts throughout the city. The overall aesthetic of these places, and the work that they contained, was compelling. Only recently have I come to realize why. The art that I saw demonstrated an apparently post-modern set of visual and contextual strategies. In retrospect , I do not think the artist’s in Berlin were creating the work in the shops as a direct contest to modernism, or any other art history. The art functioned as a means to create more of itself. The artists/shop owners sustained their lifestyle and culture by selling it.
I believe this type of art making comes from a primal state of being that no art theoretician could properly define. It demonstrates a human’s necessity to create and communicate a social feeling , regardless of the materials that are available. There is a strong correlation between the materiality of my recent work and what he saw in Berlin. The work synthesizes found objects, raw materials, and pigments using collage techniques. Every materials that is used carries its own set of signs. The true content of the work is found through an examination of how the materials are handled and juxtaposed with one another. A quick and spontaneous constructive process reveals the workability of the material. The materials potentials are acted on and it’s limitations exploited. The outcome is often a balance of order and chaos.
BFA Thesis Exhibition
My BFA exhibition was entitled “Not.” The exhibition was at 314 Neil St., Champaign, in a vacant office building. The show included exhibits by Nate Wallace, Allison Schildkneckt, Jesse Nobbe, and I. Our opening reception was held on Saturday, April 19, 2009 from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
I chose this space because it had an open space that was sufficient for my needs, as well as a drop ceiling that would enable me to suspend my work. When I first saw the space it had not been completely cleared of the office detritus that had been left behind by its former inhabitants. Once the space had been cleared, and I had brought my work into it; I realized that the environment was detracting from my work. Since I had already committed to the space I had to come up with a solution to make it work.
Previously, I had displayed the Sculptures that make up “Not.” on a white wall in a gallery setting. I liked what the work did in this context because it pushed the envelope of high art. To see these horrible forms displayed in such a proper and sterile manner created an uneasy feeling for the viewer. For my thesis exhibition I took work out of the context of a traditional gallery setting. I wanted to see the tone that the sculptures would emanate in more neutral space.
Unfortunately the vacant office building was far from neutral. Going into the project, I knew that I wanted the work to be suspended and lit with spotlights from the ceiling. I thought that the controlled lighting would “kill” the rest of the space, but I found that the ambient lighting was still illuminating the parts of the room that I was trying to obscure. I fabricated black tubes that went over my lamps to keep the light where I wanted it to be. Once I got the room neutralized by shadows the work began to transform the mood of the space as I had initially intended. I found that more tension was created by suspending the sculptures in space opposed to hanging them off a wall. The shadows that were created by the spotlighting emphasized the tactility of the work.
Working in a group to put this show together was a beneficial experience. Everyone helped each other out clearing the space and making it presentable. We also were able to bounce questions off of each other as we were designing our exhibits. Everyone promoted the show individually; this generated a larger audience than we would have received individually. Having a variety of separate shows in one venue created a unique exhibition experience. Our audience was forced to deal with several subjects individually and as a whole.
