MACHINE MADE
Meaning is elusive, never derived from the source but always forged through the context in which we search.
Ideas of mass production and mass consumption are at the forefront of the work. This is shown through the materials used such as cinder blocks, wood planks, plywood, steel chairs, fruit, fast food, and candy. The work aims to clarify relationships between these types of objects and the roles they play in our lives. The work attempts this by existing in non-traditional iterations, highlighting the similarities and differences between the material and connotations they possess in our lexicon.
Themes of oppression, relationship dynamics, time and decay, and waste are all present in the work. It was important for me to engage with raw materials and not representations of them, creating a sense of life and belonging within the work. Allowing the work to exist within time and space, changing with the changing conditions of the space, and aging over time, allows the work to become anthropomorphic: having human-like qualities. This attempts to engage the viewer to interpret themselves or ones they know into the work, displaying complexities of existence in tangible ways.