Description of Work

You're Not Really Doing Anything To Help - 2021 - Resin, cement, plaster - Not for Sale

Artist's Statement

At an early age I came to a realization that I did not see or feel things in a way that was common with those around me. I felt as though I had an intuition that others did not possess. With age I discovered this “intuition” was actually a re-wiring of my brain due to mental health complications. This became a way of grasping my experiences, building upon them as a kind of abstraction and in doing so, allowed me to use my artwork as a means to communicate my ideas. Specifically, focusing on obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, eating disorders, and disassociation.

My working process involves journaling, an act of writing and drawing numerous entries that provide inspiration for my work. These texts serve as detailed recordings of my experiences or at times compressed moments still fresh in my mind giving both insight and later a space for reflection. To further this experience of immediacy I often work with clay due to its pliability and tactility. The physicality of the material is very important at this stage of my work because all of my ideas, feelings and the physical work are still open. By comparison the act of mold making and casting have a more restrictive nature and often create a more isolating work experience. I believe physically manipulating the material with my own hands provides me a stronger connection with the work. For me this is very important. The direct contact is a grounding point; it is the place where ideas take form.

With my current work I am trying to dissect a personal moment, trapped on a stage and translate that experience. Studying the intersection between emotional abuse and mental health in romantic relationships, I specifically observe dissociative behaviors and patterns that result from weaponizing the act of sex. Much of my research is filtered internally and is body oriented but my most recent work uses the figure as a way to create space between what is a personal response and formal concerns. For me, the figure is the most relatable and recognizable means for this conversation. The exaggerated Janus-like faces and their emotions of pain and horror portray a theatrical quality, leaving behind the isolated body to sit motionless in its state of reality.

If you wish to purchase any of these pieces, please contact the gallery director, Jacqueline Nathan (jnathan@bgsu.edu.)