ARTIST STATEMENT FOR THE EXTRAVAGANZA AWAITS
Gallery of Visual Arts, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT (April-May 2008)
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My current series of paintings, which evolved into installation, is based in notions of spectacle, consumption of information, and self-gratifying selection. These ideas are subtly entwined in the subject matter, design, and content of the work. I lighten their heaviness with humor and treat them with a carnivalesque aesthetic, appropriate to the absurdity that I see characteristic of them. Painting places the issues in a narrative context, but the story remains open-ended to allow the viewer to bring personal associations to the work. I specifically selected images of friends and family unfamiliar to the viewer and a lexicon of personal symbols to maintain mystery, which should bring the viewer back to the series again and again. Installation helps the viewer physically interact with the work, giving more time to make associations, consume information, behave with the characters, and eventually witness their own behaviors. I hope for the viewer’s recognition of complicity not only with the work itself, but with the ideas contained in the work, because I believe these ideas are general and, though important, sometimes overlooked.
This show is dedicated to my Granny, Patricia S. DiGeorge, and to my truly amazing family.
Special Thanks
M.F.A. Committee: James Bailey, Cathryn Mallory, and Mike Monsos
Brad Allen
Matthew Kirscht
Kendall Mingey
David Rodriguez and Elizabeth Joan Kelly
Lisa Jarrett
Rebecca Weed
Whitney Polich, Kayla Romberger, and Kaeli Casati
Jace Laasko, Don Earl, and Adam Carroll
The Department of Art at UM