I draw on photography and video to frame
allegorical narratives. Employing the use of ambiguous spaces, characters, and
time, I focus on the intricacies of psychological trauma in social youth cliques
and their establishment of communal hierarchies. In dialogue with idealized
notions of adolescence, youth, and womanhood, I seek to explore how these
constructions are made through social and cultural practice. I am interested in
how societal expectations influence individual behavior.
Through
these visual fictions, I consider the themes of seduction, aggression, madness,
envy, and fear as devices for manipulating power within shifting psychological
systems in adolescent cliques. In my narratives, the camera manifests the
imperceptible marks left behind from these psychological games. Additionally, I
am interested in the power the camera holds over its subject. Through the eye
of the lens I have the ability to frame the context and exact moment at which
these actions are captured, endeavoring to frame them at their most menacing.
In my photographic constructions the subjects must partake in the action to
solidify a record. They are required to engage in the violent gestures of force
to illustrate the hidden trauma. This process of capturing implements a system
of dominance between photographer and subject. Much like the reality of these
cliques, this power dynamic goes unchallenged.
Through a deliberate use of aesthetics, I aim to engage the viewer in a
game of seduction, just as a youth is seduced by the promise of acceptance. The
brutal nature of these mental games is often overlooked due to the implied
innocence of its players. My use of aesthetics endeavors to mirror this
presumed innocence.
Your newer work does suggest more ambiguity of space and time as you clarified in your statement. However, the older work does not focus on social youth cliques in general but specifically on women who fit into archetypes of femininity (virgin, woman-child, model, rigid standard of beauty). Unfortunately, it may be hard to fight against the viewer's assumptions, that they feel like they know everything that could be said about the brutality of those archetypes. Your description of the relationship between the subject and the photographer focuses on another expression of brutality, and potentially one that the viewer becomes implicated in. This is a more fruitful area of exploration since the relationship between the photographer and the subject is an area with less consensus regarding brutality, since we take pictures of those we love and those we hate with equal intensity.
ReplyDelete"Additionally, I am interested in the power the camera holds over its subject." Do you think it is the camera that holds the power, or you? Do you think you could get people to perform the same acts if there was no camera around? Maybe it's a shared power that comes to the artist through the camera. We talked about you working with subjects that you don't know personally and I know you said working with models became problematic in the past, but maybe seeing how far you can push a stranger (not specifically a model) for the sake of making an image would be helpful to that end of your practice and might give you another layer to talk about in your statement. Since working with friends typically gives you greater access/more lenience from the subject, working with a person who is unfamiliar with you as a person might have more limitations that they're willing to express. It would be interesting to see how that interaction plays out.
ReplyDeleteI've always been attached to your work, for aesthetic reasons and the narratives you are able to play out for the camera using women. However, I feel myself becoming excited over the new direction you are taking in your work, finding it more open to the interpretation of the narratives you are interested in exploring. They are darkly poetic, and push the viewer, I think more strongly than your previous work. They are simply more forceful, not stronger in success but stronger in voice. They are louder, I guess is what I'm getting at.
ReplyDeleteI think you should approach your artist statement as another work of fiction. Write more! I know you can write, and I think you could really benefit from writing about your work as if you were describing the narrative you are playing at. Channel Sylvia Plath, and all those other great authors you love.
I draw on photography and video to frame allegorical narratives. Employing the use of ambiguous spaces, characters, and time, I focus on the intricacies of psychological trauma in social youth cliques and their establishment of communal hierarchies. In dialogue with idealized notions of adolescence, youth, and womanhood, I seek to explore how these constructions are made through social and cultural practice. END PARAGRAPH HERE...I am interested in how societal expectations influence individual behavior.
ReplyDeleteThrough these visual fictions, I consider the themes of seduction, aggression, madness???, envy, and fear as devices for manipulating power within shifting psychological systems in adolescent cliques. In my narratives, the camera manifests the imperceptible marks left behind from these psychological games GOOD. Additionally, I am interested in the power the camera holds over its subject. Through the eye of the lens I have the ability to frame the context and exact moment at which these actions are captured, endeavoring to frame them at their most menacingUSE WORK COMPLEX INSTEAD. In my photographic constructions the subjects must partake in the action to solidify a recordTHE LAST 3 WORDS ARE CONFUSING. They are required to engage in the violent gestures of force to illustrate the hidden trauma. This process of capturing implements a system of dominance between photographer and subject. Much like the reality of these cliques, this power dynamic goes unchallenged.
Through a deliberate use of aesthetics, I aim to engage the viewer in a game of seduction, just as a youth is seduced by the promise of acceptance. The brutal nature of these mental games is often overlooked due to the implied innocence of its players. My use of aesthetics endeavors to mirror this presumed innocence.
Jackie, this seems like too much. Every piece of this statement makes sense and for the most part I don't have to spend too long unpacking some of the more dense prose used here. But that being said, I feel strongly that you are giving away too much. It'd be interesting to see this statement interact with a body of work in some exhibition format (note to anyone else reading, does this seem like the weakness of critiquing artist statements on a blog and away from any practical use they have?). I'd predict that the statement would direct the read a little too much and the elegance of your work that can only really be read through experiencing the piece would be lost. This overabundance seems to be broken mainly in the parts where you mention games and players. While these are literally formal elements in your work, they also work nicely as metaphors for your larger interests. I'm wondering what your statement might be like as a purely poetic foray into players and games.
ReplyDelete