What Art Is, Introduction
The primary artistic gesture is to designate something as art, to point to that which is important. This essential statement, ‘this is art, this is meaningful,’ is indistinguishable from, ‘art is this, this is what art is.’ I see my work as framing a specific definition of art, which, I believe, functions to imply an entire configuration of values. By positioning itself, the work invites viewers to reevaluate their own value system in relation to it.My work defines itself against the vacuous values of consumer society. Rather than addressing the specifics of particular products or markets, allusions in my work are most clearly understood as references to underlying value systems. I think of each piece as a case study, a unique visual contemplation of contrasting values.
The vocabulary of the work is drawn from recognizable artistic modes as well as commercial imagery such as food and fashion. I see the present and history of art, culture and commerce as an open catalogue of possibilities. My work results from a process of intuitively combining these different images until something resonant emerges.
<< Blog Main