Forms of transformation
Date
2019
Authors
Nelson, Christy, author
Osborne, Erika, advisor
Emami, Sanam, committee member
Flippen, Paul, committee member
Dik, Bryan, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
I find used, soiled, discarded, often familial objects and using art agents like encaustic, stretcher frames, and pigment, I change them into new things. This resonates with Bill Brown's Thing Theory which deals with human-object interaction and the shift in perception of an "object" to a "thing." Some of my newly recreated "things" expose holes or scars that can be closed and opened similarly to a wound that is perpetually re-opening and re-healing. Rachel Sussman, Kiki Smith and Louise Bourgeois are three artists who also deal with differing types of healing in their art. Though there are some similarities in how we approach repair, my work revels in the process of tangibly redeeming salvaged forms and freezing them in a moment of restoration. This experience is empowering to me, as it provides a form of therapy and is often a magical interaction. Beyond the symbiotic interaction of the found-objects compelling me to remake them and the process-based catharsis they in turn offer me, I seek to engage the audience with these pieces. As the viewer sees the transformed artworks, I remind them that renewal is possible and ask them to be active participants in the process.