Artist's Statement
A great deal of our time, energy, and resources are spent in the pursuit of objects of desire - be they material or immaterial. My work is an investigation of desire and the means by which people attempt to attain the objects of their longing. Most recently, I have focused on the issue of how we relate to what is commonly considered "nature".
I am particularly interested in the contrasting set of desires that we often expect the "natural," or non-human, world to fulfill. For various reasons, many people look to nature to find a sense of meaning in their lives. At the same time, it is also a source of valuable resources and materials. In technologically developed societies like ours, which have gained a great deal of mastery over their environment, nature provides the fodder for two contrasting fantasies: further domination over the earth, and making contact with the pure, unspoiled origins of our existence. Hence, we have activities like nature tourism, in which mass numbers of people travel in their cars to what they believe to be a more pure or unspoiled environment than their daily surroundings.
I am also interested in the intersection between organic and man-made forms and how these two things intertwine now, and what the intersection may look like in the future. For example, a great deal of the way our geographical landscape looks comes from our patterns of consumption- new highways are constructed, hills are flattened to install a new housing development. Is nature simply the stuff that is left in between our projects? When is it more than that? Where do we want nature to fit in?
In my visual practice, I strive to create sculptures and environments that operate in an in-between place - rather than attempt to assert a particular viewpoint, I hope to create opportunities for heightened perception of our daily predicament. Many of the materials I use are commonplace household items, such as Styrofoam or plastic packaging. I choose these materials not only because of their status as a by-product of an industrialized culture, but also because their sheer ubiquity lends itself to addressing an experience of our environment that is not exceptional, but practiced on a mass scale.
A sense of living vicariously seems to be a hallmark of life in contemporary society. It is this sense that fuels our constant pursuit of our desires. In my work, I am driven to investigate this ongoing chase and to question where it might lead us.
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