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Once I heralded the importance of the artist’s personal space, it seemed necessary to investigate the processes that went into creating that space that are also evident in the work that comes out of it. This is the process of accumulation. Wherever I go I am always picking up things that speak to me and reflect my interests, anything from found objects in nature to pictures from magazines, to fabrics with appealing textures. These objects are things that stimulate me and inspire me to create. I surround myself with these objects as a constant source of stimulation but they also have to potential to become part of my work. It is a process of creating stimuli out of stimuli. Many of the things in my personal space are actual works that I have created because they serve as a continued stimulus. I create things that I want to see and share my space with. When I enter a new space such as a bedroom or studio space I am troubled by the emptiness, it staggers me and I am never comfortable within it. I have a need to make the space mine, to see myself reflected in my surroundings. Over time I begin to fill the space with stimulus: pictures, artwork, plants, fabrics, etc. Not only does this amassing inspire me to make work but I also see it as a way of affirming my existence. The buildup of material and artworks within my personal space serves as a record of my progress over time, it stands as evidence of my labor. I have found a fellow accumulator in the artist Lucas Samaras. This is perhaps most evident in his work Room #1, 1964 in which the artist created a replica of his bedroom in the family house he had just moved out of. Not only was this a sentimental snapshot of a period of his life coming to an end but a behind-the-scenes look into the artist in his environment. In choosing to display this reproduction of his personal space Samaras shifted our attention away from the finished art object and placed more importance on the artist and his habits. We are given a glimpse into the artist's mind and his methods of inspiration and creation. We see overflowing bags of yarn, cabinets full of curious objects, strange little experimental sculptures in various states of completion. Thomas McEvilley suggests that, “Room #1, with it’s presentation of the bedroom as a cosmos, expressed Samaras’ desire to eroticize the world of his art” (Chambers, 17). Throughout his career, Samaras has portrayed his personal space—apartment, studio, bedroom—as a magical place where beautiful things happen. For this show I have chosen to once again reference my studio and living space in the manner that the work is displayed within the gallery. I am attempting to alter the space into something more exciting and stimulating for myself and my audience. I want to showcase the individual works but present them within the context of the larger body of my work, almost like a retrospective show. This method of presentation allows me to have more control over the gallery space, presenting the work on its own terms. Having elements of different media together in this space creates a unified body of work where each piece is interpreted in relation to its surroundings. .I am staging an invasion of the corner of the gallery where my work will create its own space. My three large sculptures mark my territory within the gallery space allowing for the profusion of two-dimensional work to clutter the walls. I want to overload the corner of the gallery with as much visual stimulus as possible. By leaving many of the works unframed, they have an honesty to them, they are not pretending to be anything they are not. I think the unframed element makes the object seem more alive and subject to change, retaining an element of tension and incompleteness. When my work is reduced to sharp edges and tidy appearance, it is no longer appealing to me. This show is an attempt to display the works to my liking and the way that I find most effective mode of altering the gallery space. |
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