Skip to main content

Trigger

This is a body of work that will be described in the paragraphs below is in major progress. These photos were from a class called Topics in Sculpture: aka 781. I am currently working on a few project proposals to try and get into circulation again. Below are a series of paintings and the proposal that goes with them.

















Trigger

Trigger  is an exhibition that requires the viewer to look at the immense issue of gun control. Often the issue of gun control is broken down to legalities and paper work. Recently to call for mental health screenings and limits dominate the conversation. Trigger examines a feminist perspective of the issue.
Created in easily understood graphics and with non-mature materials the paintings focus on masculinity versus femininity and the role that gender conditioning has in the use of guns and weapons as a whole. The juxtaposition of the graphic, even comic, style of the images of the guns is complicated with the flowery details of the quilted fabric printed with flowers. The use of decoupage, puffy paint, and bright color is a metaphor in material to reference the craft projects of childhood. Using classic piping techniques for cake decorating the artist has piped acrylic paint on top of the quilting fabrics to further the contrast of the typically masculine and typically feminine. 

In the past thirty years in the United States there has been 62 mass shootings 61 of them have been committed by men. This conversation is not being held to point the finger at masculinity, but at the social constructs that design our young men as to have them reach for weapons. This is not to say violence is only committed by men, but that much of violence has become a gendered issue and that it is an epidemic of violence. The creation of toy guns, video game culture, and less strict guidelines on violence in movies not only supports but demonstrates violence for the youth of America to consume and absorb. This culture of violence deserves and demands attention. This is a moment for the United States to reflect both personally and nationally and create conversation.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

700 Sculptures, 10 Days...

In February, I was privileged to receive a residency at Ronald Reagan Elementary, in New Berlin, WI. With Cindy Hollbrook and Mrs. Burg (RR's art teacher) we used found objects, recycled materials as well as plaster, clay, floral foam, and balsa foam to create abstract sculptures with all 700 students. It was exhausting and magical. Below you will find some photos of my favorite pieces and a short video chronicling our final art show!
Post a Comment
Read more

What Would We Do With Lynne Tillman?

Once again, my posting is on a 2 month delay... In the past year I have been a part of an Artist Book Club in Milwaukee. This Club was put together by Kate Schaffer- a badass artist who is literally the busiest human I know. Kate put together this group and we have read some great books and eaten some great food in the last year. One of the books was What Would Lynne Tillman Do? Besides the first chapters on Andy Warhol driving me nuts- this book dug into some serious problems that artists face today. Tillman addressed the artists contemporary plight in domesticity, identity, merit, and research in every chapter. This novel uses interviews and stories from Tillmans own life, and blurrs the line between memory and reality. As a group, Melissa Dorn, Peter Beck, Lois Bielefeld, Kate Schaffer and myself put together an exhibition at Frank Juarez Gallery that investigated our research into this book and author. This exhibition, What Would We Do With Lynne Tillman?, dug into new domestic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Looking Back to Haiti...

Per the norm, this post is late and inconsistent. However, this time it is for good reason. As some of my friends and family know, I have gone to Haiti a few times working with an excellent organization called Healing Haiti. In an effort to make sure I am not relegating my work in Haiti to something akin to "poverty porn" I felt I needed some distance from my time in Haiti to make sure my own motives are right when sharing my time in Haiti with you. Healing Haiti is a christian organization, most organizations in Haiti are. I feel like it important to let you know that I have not gone to Haiti as an evangelist, my own motives were focused on art being a resource to people who are in desperate need of confidence, dignity and love. Healing Haiti is an incredible organization that is focused on the heart or Haiti- unemployment. 70% of the population in Haiti is unemployed, with unemployment come poverty, the decay of familial relationships, poor healthcare and nutrition and ...
Post a Comment
Read more