Monday, March 11, 2013

Artist Statement

We are ugly; we are beautiful.
   
    We live in a large and broken world that is full of temporality and shifting pieces in the game of life. Photographer Emmet Gowin talks about creating a tension between beauty and devastation in his photographs. I also aim to create this tension by documenting our world where both beauty and devastation are prevalent.
    I am constantly faced with the reality that nothing in life is permanent. Everything around us fades, deteriorates and eventually dies. At times I think we wonder what the point of it all is. However, everything has a purpose. Whether something is deemed “ugly” or “beautiful”, it still plays an important part in the space it occupies.
     The photographs I have taken are of spaces in which I have walked, spaces I have lived, spaces I understand. These are spaces where I belong. This idea of “belonging” is one that all of mankind has in common.
    Within the large photograph of each piece, I capture the “whole” to showcase the vastness of these spaces. These large prints are meant to appear daunting yet beautiful,  and somewhat overwhelming to look at. The smaller images below each large image are small details found within the space above it. All these small, seemingly insignificant things are important. Without all of these small details, the image above it would not exist. These photographs capture the effects of time: seasons, change, life and death.
    Life. We are life forms. We are these pieces; we change, deteriorate, and grow old. We live and we die. But we have purpose. We are needed to make up this vast, broken, and temporal world.

Possible Titles:
Fragmented Whole
Fractured Entirety
Complete Fractures
Imperfect Masterpiece
Transcendent Destruction

Other?

Sunday, March 10, 2013

New Work



I was about to take more photographs for the piece on the left. I will post those soon. As well as the final piece for the one on the right.

I was thinking of perhaps keeping very dramatic empty space like the one of the left. Is this something that works? I'm not sure. If I do that, do I need to adjust my artist statement to reflect why I would do such a thing?

Revising my artist statement now. Will post soon.