Artist Statement for UCI Thesis 2022
The repetitive everyday act of eating food has become ingrained in memories with meals being associated with certain people or experiences. The lack of specificity in the subject matter is unlike a portrait but the food is also acting as a portrait of memory, the food being a vehicle to represent specific moments. The familiarity of the food items experienced through viewing the works allows one to interpret the pieces from their own backgrounds. The sensitivity of the banana, violent destruction of the cake, brokenness of the macaroni balls, and depiction of alcohol find unity through my experiences in a symbolic manner where a loss of innocence has occurred.
Each painting begins by taking a photograph where I arrange the food, usually on a mirror, and at times manipulate it through warming it up or adding water for reflectivity. The depth of field captured through the camera intrigues me, mimicking the way our eyes focus by having one area in high detail while the surrounding is blurred with soft edges. The visceral sense allows more time to be spent with certain areas of the work. Using a grid to translate the photograph to the scale of the canvas, I begin adding layers of oil paint. The versatility I find in oil paints is applicable for the variety of textures in these food items as well as for the range of edges and richness in pigment. I fine tune the color palette through a layer of oil paint mixed with liquin to tint and enrich the previous layers. Through this process I strive to create depth through the building up of layers and also do my best to match the photograph as closely as possible but while still making decisions to make the piece work as a painting. The moments of this cause the painting to be read differently from a distance as opposed to up close. Translating the painting back into a photograph by taking a picture of it is another interesting moment.
The relationship between the sculptural forms and the two-dimensional paintings creates a conversation between appeal and deflection. The appeal comes from the appetizing depictions through the paintings, whereas the sculptures bring about disgust through the flesh-like surfaces and surreal molding effect. The decomposition portrayed through the sculptures reflects how my perception changed overtime. While the decay is repellent, it also sparks an intrigue drawing one closer.
The subject matter of food is a continuation of the art historical traditions to paint still lives, particularly of food. Dutch still life paintings realistically depicted food and items of decay. These vanitas reflected themes of earthly pleasures which goes intangant with the personal experiences I reference in my pieces. There is a similarity with the subject matter I have chosen but I split the decay from the painting translating it instead into a three dimensional form.
Creating the sculptures brought about a feeling of freedom where I was able to reshape the memory of the food I photographed rather than mimicry with the paintings. The tactile experience inspired inexact warping clay forms.
The journey through the gallery space has a transition between the smooth surfaces of the canvases portraying food from an aesthetic approach contrasted with the textured forms of the sculptures that break down the expectation of how the image would exist as a form, providing a shared experience with the artist.
I created these works in hopes to share my moments of being met with unexpected experiences. More specifically, moving to a new location for the first time and being bombarded by an unfamiliar independence. From the sweet greeting with a cookie to the paintings and sculptures, I hope that I have led the viewer through a wave of emotions, enticement, and retraction, to mirror how I felt during the experiences I encountered this year. My goal is to create a conversation about consumption and reflections; consumption in the sense of consequences for what we allow to enter our bodies, and the reflections in reference to the one seen in my paintings from the mirror as well as the sculptures depicting the same subject matter and the psychological reflection of the recollection that the specific food causes.
Each painting begins by taking a photograph where I arrange the food, usually on a mirror, and at times manipulate it through warming it up or adding water for reflectivity. The depth of field captured through the camera intrigues me, mimicking the way our eyes focus by having one area in high detail while the surrounding is blurred with soft edges. The visceral sense allows more time to be spent with certain areas of the work. Using a grid to translate the photograph to the scale of the canvas, I begin adding layers of oil paint. The versatility I find in oil paints is applicable for the variety of textures in these food items as well as for the range of edges and richness in pigment. I fine tune the color palette through a layer of oil paint mixed with liquin to tint and enrich the previous layers. Through this process I strive to create depth through the building up of layers and also do my best to match the photograph as closely as possible but while still making decisions to make the piece work as a painting. The moments of this cause the painting to be read differently from a distance as opposed to up close. Translating the painting back into a photograph by taking a picture of it is another interesting moment.
The relationship between the sculptural forms and the two-dimensional paintings creates a conversation between appeal and deflection. The appeal comes from the appetizing depictions through the paintings, whereas the sculptures bring about disgust through the flesh-like surfaces and surreal molding effect. The decomposition portrayed through the sculptures reflects how my perception changed overtime. While the decay is repellent, it also sparks an intrigue drawing one closer.
The subject matter of food is a continuation of the art historical traditions to paint still lives, particularly of food. Dutch still life paintings realistically depicted food and items of decay. These vanitas reflected themes of earthly pleasures which goes intangant with the personal experiences I reference in my pieces. There is a similarity with the subject matter I have chosen but I split the decay from the painting translating it instead into a three dimensional form.
Creating the sculptures brought about a feeling of freedom where I was able to reshape the memory of the food I photographed rather than mimicry with the paintings. The tactile experience inspired inexact warping clay forms.
The journey through the gallery space has a transition between the smooth surfaces of the canvases portraying food from an aesthetic approach contrasted with the textured forms of the sculptures that break down the expectation of how the image would exist as a form, providing a shared experience with the artist.
I created these works in hopes to share my moments of being met with unexpected experiences. More specifically, moving to a new location for the first time and being bombarded by an unfamiliar independence. From the sweet greeting with a cookie to the paintings and sculptures, I hope that I have led the viewer through a wave of emotions, enticement, and retraction, to mirror how I felt during the experiences I encountered this year. My goal is to create a conversation about consumption and reflections; consumption in the sense of consequences for what we allow to enter our bodies, and the reflections in reference to the one seen in my paintings from the mirror as well as the sculptures depicting the same subject matter and the psychological reflection of the recollection that the specific food causes.