note
This was a college project. My final two years. In truth it sprung from my mother who lived with cancer for 12 years before passing away. At the time I never fully discuses it as part of my artwork. She raised me and my brother as a single parent and always appeared strong, healthy and focused. In the space of 12 years she became frail and old but remained strong. I still miss her and love her but on a selfish note as I lost her a self centered reality grew in my mind. Maybe because we were so alike. A lot of what i I could see in her illness was my own mortality and weakness. With these changes to my life, among others, I experienced a lot of depression and anxiety. However In learning to deal with this I believe I changed for the better. To some one dealing with anything similar I can honestly say. These things changed me and are all part of who I am, they are part of life and have left me stronger, happier and more focused. Hang in there. |
Broken People
I started looking at human atrophy and our limited existence. We live so much longer complex lives than those that lived before. We rely on constant maintenance throughout our lives to extend the lengths we live. Sometimes our minds, our souls slip away long before our bodies give in. But could it ever be any other way. In the realms of science old age is currently being looked at as something that can be prevented or even cured. It still leaves us open too mental forms of atrophy. As we live we gather scars. Memory its self whether good or bad can be represented by scaring on one’s mind. I believe our past is a strong element of who we are, so how does a longer past affect us. With all this in mind I looked to Kintsuki, The Japanese art of repairing a broken object in a way that honors and highlights its past. I combined this with the human form. I thought it was an ideal way to represent the journey people take to become who they are at a current point in time. However unlike in kentsuki I decided that to fix something with perfection in mind would not reflect the truths of life, death and the complexity of who someone is. Broken people might sound negative but perfection in my mind is something that doesn't change and to that extent is not perfect. I think the fact that people change in either good or bad ways and how we are flawed and varied and maybe even our limited existence all adds to what people are rather than takes from it. |