“S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse
A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo
Non torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero,
Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.”
— Dante Alighieri,
La Commedia Divina: Inferno,
Canto XXVII.61—66
Surface and Narrative:
My raw materials are human and intangible. They are stories of my own, and stories from strangers, vicarious angers and joys, tender moments I've had and haven't had yet. Color, image and text come together as vehicles for the information I wish to impart to my viewer, both with a distinct narrative and on a more subliminal level.
I started with dinnerware. Slowly, imagery began to seep in and spread out until it covered the dishes and flowed off the edges. I paint, and cut up decals to splice stories together on objects I make as well as blank dishes from thrift stores, to instill humanity (and therefore value) into them, and let them out into the world. While the object itself may or may not see a drastic physical change, its tone and meaning often turn around completely with the addition of the imagery.
The information on my dishes is slipped sweetly to the viewer like a pill in their drink. The reward may be tea and cookies, but as the food disappears, my viewer cannot move from the table as terrible and absurd stories are playing out right underneath their noses.