I was asked to write an artist statement in fifteen minutes without referring to anything I had previously written. Here is what I came up with, unedited and off the cuff:
"I make the things I like to make. The bottles provide reason. When I don't know what to do I can just make them. The limitations of a form allow me to explore subtle changes that can happen. I am comforted when I have a lot of them surrounding me. I feel safe.__________ I feel like I ask myself the question what makes sense for clay to do, then I say ok what's the opposite of that. I want more void space, thinner coils. I am interested in how objects and reference points so specific to me can slip into the idea of the universal. I create my own world. Clay allows the loose, imaginary world of mine to become real. It is now something you can touch I am still figuring out how much of it is illusion." This exercise made me have a very intuitive response to my work. In an effort to get to a point and get there quickly, I think I put down statements that I would not have thought to include in an artist statement. This provided new angles from which I can think about my work. Francesca Woodman's seamless integration of the body into landscape and architecture is nothing short of breath-taking. Her haunting imagery resonates with me on a deep level, I think her work is fascinating.
Although her subject matter is her own body, I think that calling the pictures self-portraits is a disservice to the work. It is about how a figure can engage in a space; is the figure disruptive, or does it dissolve away. I wish I could have known her. "Birthday" by Dorothea Tanning has been a long time favorite of mine. I am imspired by the colors, the long confusing hallway of doors, and the dramatic clothing she is wearing. Dorothea exposes herself to the viewer, but does not objectify herself. She is standing calmly, and does not engage the viewer. deconstruction-
1- a philosophical or critical method which asserts that meaning, metaphysical construct, and hierarchical oppositions are always rendered unstable by their dependence on ultimately arbitrary signifiers 2- the analytic examination of something (as a theory) often in order to reveal its inadequacy volatile- 1- readily vaporizable at a relatively low temperature. 2- flying or having the power to fly 3- a. light hearted, lively b. easily aroused c. tending to erupt into violence 4- a. unable to hold the attention fixed because of an inherent lightness or fickleness of disposition b. characterized by or subject to rapid or unexpected change 5- difficult to capture or hold permanently |
hello, my name is kayla have you Archives
September 2020
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