Monday, July 12, 2010

Nine

So, I had my first show outside of school on Friday at the P&H. "Exudation," it was called. I thought I would publish my statement along with the images...so here it goes:

Crown
2010

"Exudation" is in reaction to the Gulf Oil Disaster that is affecting my hometown in Southern Louisiana and the surrounding states.  The word "exudation" is used to reference equally the oil steadily and continually spilling into the Gulf and the strong outpouring of emotion from the citizens of that region, myself included. It is a reaction of frustration and of grief.


Pipeline
2010
My two pieces of the show are titled Pipeline and Crown.  Little framed images of people, animals, and landscape are placed on a rusty metal, industrial background in Pipeline. A black substance is seeping, exuding, from the top of the picture plain, running down, sometimes obscuring the sentimental collection of images. Yet, the oily lines create a web, connecting all the different pictures together. The disaster affects everything. In the portrait Crown, the figure is shaking her head, trying to rid herself of the substance, but it is too integrated into her hair. I am not sure if the black specs are flying off of or rushing to meet her.  I am also reminded of a crown of thorns and a sort of half-halo. The figure looks almost saintly. She is frustrated yet almost at peace, like she is tiring of her struggle and is resigning to it.

I come from New Orleans, Louisiana, which is currently surrounded on three sides by oil. I came to Memphis to become an artist the good-old-fashioned college way. Primarily, I am interested in  painting representationally and realistically, and am slowly becoming more interested in and bold enough to try my hand in more abstract ways of story telling.  To me, art is story-telling, whether the story be a novel, headline, or a single word.



And thank you so much to all those who came out to see it.

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