Drawing questions
Date
2012
Authors
Croghan, Nicholas, author
Kokoska, Mary-Ann, advisor
Lehene, Marius, committee member
Flippen, Paul, committee member
Mackenzie, Matt, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
In my artwork, the questions I am interested in are those that begin with our experience of the world. Specifically, the connections between an embodied subject, the environment and the different roles the senses play on the temporality of consciousness. Other enigmas that have occupied my mind are those regarding the relationship between self and other and how to create an art that provokes a participation in the inter-subjective living moment. To investigate these themes I create two and three-dimensional objects which provide a multi-sensory experience that is aesthetically engaging, conceptually provocative, and layered with levels of meaning. To invoke a fascination in these ideas, I have used intricate and evocative imagery, incorporation of kinetic and interactive components, and elements that change with time or different environmental conditions. Important is a necessary mobile perspective that breaks the viewer free from a static cone of vision and seduces him or her into a labyrinth of puzzles. Formally I juxtapose various materials including silverpoint, transfers, vhs tape, polarized screens and found objects with supports ranging from folk art-style assemblages to meticulously crafted panels and glass. Subtractive processes such as carving, erasing, and veiling constitute another aspect of the layering that gives rise to the finished piece. Employing these materials and processes with subject matter that is representational as well as abstract, narrative, or illustrative of mechanical and anatomical diagrams allows me to take the viewer from a place of the known to one of not-knowing. Every work is both a sensory and cerebral playground in which one can investigate the curious nature of perception. It is important for this exploration to absorb the viewer in multiple epiphanies that lead to questions, self-reflection and a state of being conscious of consciousness. My art practice is inspired by the mutual arising or transactional interaction between the viewer, myself and the art experience.