The scene depicted here is one that encompasses a feeling of young joy. The figure in the foreground is a child or young girl and this might represent their first fishing trip. She is holding a fishing pole that is almost bigger than the figure itself, an offscreen arm reaching out to possibly help hold the fishing pole, indicating just how young she is. The figure is staring joyously at a small fish that has presumably just been caught. It appears to be a scene on a lake, with large scopes of grass all around. Further in the background there are trees that almost seem dreamlike with the way that they are rendered so graphically. Perhaps the artist doesn’t quite remember the trees in this scene or maybe believes they imagined the trees with the same graphic quality that they possess in this piece. The tone of this piece makes the viewer feel as those they were dreaming of a memory and their subconscious has added in elements in order to fill in the gaps in memory, lending to an overall dream-like tone.

Review by Caroline Vierrege

 

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

My vision of art is one of memories and dreams. When I think back on my life it feels hazy like a thick fog and I can’t always discern the difference between what I experienced and what I imagined.

Sometimes these feelings blur together and it’s this experience that I want to capture in my art. In my current series, I am combining drawing and photographic to help represent how I remember the past. A figure of myself will always be present in this body of work whether it is younger, older, or both because I can only remember things that I was there for. What I draw and put into a piece feels solid to me, like I remember it clearly.

The photographic elements are things I don’t feel that are real or can’t remember clearly. When I combine these elements together I get something almost completely fabricated that is just slightly out of touch with reality. I wanted each of these pieces to fall on a spectrum between ‘more realistic’ as if it was a memory from a photograph to ‘more dreamlike’ as if it was a memory from a dream. What I get from my work is nostalgia and wanting to connect my past to the present. Although my work is very personal I still want the viewer to think about their memories as well.

Currently, I am focusing on screenprinting but originally I wanted to use solar plates because you can have a lot of detail and a value range. I shifted to screen printing because I could create larger pieces and it was a more practical way of adding color. Two of my biggest influences are Albrecht Durer and Hirohiko Araki, they both focus on figures and often have a dreamlike landscape. Also, recently I have been looking at Peter Milton because of his interesting work and similar concept. I am often inspired by their compositions and the symbolism they carry in their work.

 

BIOGRAPHY