Title of Abstract
Session Title
Arts Expo 2
College
College of Visual and Performing Arts
Department
Fine Arts
Abstract
Desolation is an installation made of three components: steel forms, plywood forms, and a monoprint pathway. This surreal landscape explores themes of industry vs. nature, the merging of my internal and external landscapes, and feelings of disgust and anguish. One of the major ways these themes are communicated in Desolation is through the use of materials. Both natural materials, such as hair and dirt, and unnatural ones, like concrete and latex, are combined in such a way that the line between natural and unnatural becomes blurred. Additionally, the work investigates the way certain materials and textures can conjure feelings of disgust, despair, and disillusionment. This installation is immersive and inherently interactive. By entering the pathway, each viewer impacts the work. Over time, the pathway may begin to deteriorate, reflecting the degradation of the environment caused by human activity. Desolation was developed intuitively. Through the process of creation, this work has acted as a tool for reflecting on my personal relationship to the earth, as well as humanity’s relationship to and impact on it. Viewers who enter Desolation are challenged to reflect on these questions and confront their implications. Further, I have found that this work is representative of both the external landscape I inhabit and the internal landscape within my mind. Visual imagery from the natural world around me, the feelings of both deep love and concern I have for that world, as well as unrelated tumultuous feelings from my daily life have melded together in Desolation.
Start Date
15-4-2022 12:00 PM
Desolation
Desolation is an installation made of three components: steel forms, plywood forms, and a monoprint pathway. This surreal landscape explores themes of industry vs. nature, the merging of my internal and external landscapes, and feelings of disgust and anguish. One of the major ways these themes are communicated in Desolation is through the use of materials. Both natural materials, such as hair and dirt, and unnatural ones, like concrete and latex, are combined in such a way that the line between natural and unnatural becomes blurred. Additionally, the work investigates the way certain materials and textures can conjure feelings of disgust, despair, and disillusionment. This installation is immersive and inherently interactive. By entering the pathway, each viewer impacts the work. Over time, the pathway may begin to deteriorate, reflecting the degradation of the environment caused by human activity. Desolation was developed intuitively. Through the process of creation, this work has acted as a tool for reflecting on my personal relationship to the earth, as well as humanity’s relationship to and impact on it. Viewers who enter Desolation are challenged to reflect on these questions and confront their implications. Further, I have found that this work is representative of both the external landscape I inhabit and the internal landscape within my mind. Visual imagery from the natural world around me, the feelings of both deep love and concern I have for that world, as well as unrelated tumultuous feelings from my daily life have melded together in Desolation.
