Artist Statement, Invisible Red Thread of Luck
For better or worse, in less than twenty-four hours I will either be an official MFA candidate at NMSU, or in a great deal of trouble. Not that the two are of necessity mutually exclusive. But certainly I'd prefer to be at least the former.
I veer wildly between a fatalistic confidence and raw fear. I know consciously that my work is pretty awesome, my committee pretty sympathetic, and I'm pretty prepared, but my gut just keeps remembering the last Semester Reviews.
I haven't actually talked yet about what my thesis is about, besides posting pieces of the work, so since I've just finished writing my statement, I've posted it here for interested parties that might appreciate some context to the screenprints:
Artist Statement Spring 2009
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio…”
I have been fascinated by monsters since learning about the one dwelling beneath my bed. Over time, this interest has taken a number of facets, including an interest in cryptozoology, dinosaurs, and numerous other Fortean topics. I have no opinions on the veracity of any claims, only a fascination with the claim itself. I believe that we, as humans, need to believe in things that challenge the rational mind and go beyond what is “supposed” to be real. Often, these creatures serve a purpose in the culture that believes in them, giving concrete form to an otherwise indistinct fear or idea.
For my thesis work, I propose the creation of a book of one hundred creatures. These creatures will be drawn from Midwestern American culture (where I grew up), Southwestern culture (where I currently dwell), Japanese yôkaigaku, feminism, cryptozoology, and American societal fears and concerns. Some already exist, some will be “discovered” by me. I have tried to analyze what each of the creatures may have represented within their culture and time, and synthesize them with contemporary concerns, especially those relating to feminist issues and the roles of women in Western society.
Books of supernatural creatures have a legacy in Japanese Edo and Meiji era printmaking, where books like One Hundred Demons Night Parade, Tales of Monsters Now and Then, An Illustrated Collection of Many Random Creatures, and New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts all depicted bestiaries of yôkai (nature spirits) and obakemono (“changed things”). Not all were malevolent, though all were strange. My creatures will be screenprinted with an accompanying descriptive text, also composed by myself. The screenprinting in halftone CMYK adds a pseudo-documentation feel to the digitally manipulated images, making the creatures appear more “real.” This false reality and narrative plays with the viewer’s experience of reality in much the same way as the creatures’ purported existence may affect their understanding of the world.
I'd like to take a moment to mention that An Illustrated Collection of Many Random Creatures (Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure-bukuro) is probably my favourite book title of all time. Seriously, I'm naming my autobiography that.
I took time out of my busy panicking to finish one more piece before tomorrow, on the "They never say you've done too much work" principle.
This is the Invisible Red Thread of Auspiciousness, which evolved out of sort of a portmanteau of the Chinese concept of an Invisible Red Thread of Fate, the Japanese Zashiki Warashi, mushi from Mushishi, and my own experiences. Yeah, it's random like that.
Here we have it with Yellow and Magenta:
And here we have it with Yellow, Magenta, and Black. I decided I didn't want the Cyan in this one, so there is no cyan screen. Take that, cyan screen.
And here's a closeup:
And, completely unrelated but adorable: the manager of the art department supply store recently rescued a several-week-old kitten, which she's bringing to work because she has to feed them every few hours because they aren't weaned yet. I don't have a good picture 'cause the little bugger keeps moving, but they are utterly precious as only several week old kittens can be.
I veer wildly between a fatalistic confidence and raw fear. I know consciously that my work is pretty awesome, my committee pretty sympathetic, and I'm pretty prepared, but my gut just keeps remembering the last Semester Reviews.
I haven't actually talked yet about what my thesis is about, besides posting pieces of the work, so since I've just finished writing my statement, I've posted it here for interested parties that might appreciate some context to the screenprints:
Artist Statement Spring 2009
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio…”
I have been fascinated by monsters since learning about the one dwelling beneath my bed. Over time, this interest has taken a number of facets, including an interest in cryptozoology, dinosaurs, and numerous other Fortean topics. I have no opinions on the veracity of any claims, only a fascination with the claim itself. I believe that we, as humans, need to believe in things that challenge the rational mind and go beyond what is “supposed” to be real. Often, these creatures serve a purpose in the culture that believes in them, giving concrete form to an otherwise indistinct fear or idea.
For my thesis work, I propose the creation of a book of one hundred creatures. These creatures will be drawn from Midwestern American culture (where I grew up), Southwestern culture (where I currently dwell), Japanese yôkaigaku, feminism, cryptozoology, and American societal fears and concerns. Some already exist, some will be “discovered” by me. I have tried to analyze what each of the creatures may have represented within their culture and time, and synthesize them with contemporary concerns, especially those relating to feminist issues and the roles of women in Western society.
Books of supernatural creatures have a legacy in Japanese Edo and Meiji era printmaking, where books like One Hundred Demons Night Parade, Tales of Monsters Now and Then, An Illustrated Collection of Many Random Creatures, and New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts all depicted bestiaries of yôkai (nature spirits) and obakemono (“changed things”). Not all were malevolent, though all were strange. My creatures will be screenprinted with an accompanying descriptive text, also composed by myself. The screenprinting in halftone CMYK adds a pseudo-documentation feel to the digitally manipulated images, making the creatures appear more “real.” This false reality and narrative plays with the viewer’s experience of reality in much the same way as the creatures’ purported existence may affect their understanding of the world.
I'd like to take a moment to mention that An Illustrated Collection of Many Random Creatures (Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure-bukuro) is probably my favourite book title of all time. Seriously, I'm naming my autobiography that.
I took time out of my busy panicking to finish one more piece before tomorrow, on the "They never say you've done too much work" principle.
This is the Invisible Red Thread of Auspiciousness, which evolved out of sort of a portmanteau of the Chinese concept of an Invisible Red Thread of Fate, the Japanese Zashiki Warashi, mushi from Mushishi, and my own experiences. Yeah, it's random like that.
Here we have it with Yellow and Magenta:
And here we have it with Yellow, Magenta, and Black. I decided I didn't want the Cyan in this one, so there is no cyan screen. Take that, cyan screen.
And here's a closeup:
And, completely unrelated but adorable: the manager of the art department supply store recently rescued a several-week-old kitten, which she's bringing to work because she has to feed them every few hours because they aren't weaned yet. I don't have a good picture 'cause the little bugger keeps moving, but they are utterly precious as only several week old kittens can be.