MFA - San Francisco Art Institute
Artist Statement
My work is informed by the distant memory. Having been raised in a, conservative household, I find myself straying away from the idea of art as traditional, Romanesque figure painting, and moving towards abstract, contemporary methods. Using common items found around domestic settings, the work deconstructs the difficult process of recalling moments from childhood and the ephemeral sentimentality that proceeds. This deprivation results in the attempt to grasp onto fragments of recollections and remember more in the process.
I explore the impressionistic mark-making, responding directly to my printmaking background, in order to reveal a monoprint of a transitory entity. Beginning with dish soap as a nostalgic scent, along with water and air in conjunction with acrylic paint, the result is a print that embodies a painting, leaving behind an organic, microscopic residue. This experiential and experimental, action-oriented process creates a direct relationship between my state of being and what I am physically doing, forcing myself to reminisce about specific features from particular moments. The marks formed from this arena produce abstract, semi-amorphous figures that allow me to assign memories to my actions of compulsory movement and meditation. In relinquishing control, I have no jurisdiction between the permanent and impermanent qualities of the media. Through the utilization of domestic items as sentimental objects, process becomes crucial in seeking out what has been forgotten.
