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Oberlin
Student
Class:
2002
Major:
Studio Art
Home Town:
Durham, NC |
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Her Work |
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Untitled
was a collaboration between myself, guitarist Jacob Morris, and a
dress I made from gauze and hula hoops. At times the dress directed
my movement and at other times I tried to direct its path of movement.
As Jacob improvised on his Les Paul looped through several pedals,
the balls in the hula-hoop would hit against the plastic rim of the
hoop, and the dress became an instrument in itself. This piece lasted
about ten minutes in length and confronted issues of innocence (symbolized
by the hula hoops) and healing (symbolized by the gauze). There was
a tension between these two divergent materials as they pulled at,
framed, and supported each other, much as the two issues metaphysically
struggle within one's consciousness after an experience of catharsis.
The four fashion clips are the pieces I contributed to the Merde
Chaud collection, a fashion show I organized in February 2001.
The pieces are made from used materials found at thrift stores, and
like much of my other work, each outfit contains it's own narrative.
The first clip is The Whoa Skirt, made of dyed vintage fabric,
rocked by Patricia Ngnoumen. The name of the piece is derived from
the song to which Patricia wanted to walk, it is also the intended
response of the viewer. In the second clip, Anna Chapman sports an
outfit for Ohio weather, made of a child's rain jacket transformed
into a skirt and a poncho transformed into a cowl neck top. The four
models sport pillow case skirts, but these women have laps you shouldn't
sleep on. Issaku Kohl is wearing an ode to American Dreams, made of
a boy's quilted sleeping bag. Look out for the next Merde Chaud
edition coming May 2002...
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Artist's
Statement |
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My body
of work is quite diverse. One could say that I don't feel I have "a
medium," or one format that I feel I excel at or concentrate on more
than others. At times I feel that the singular common thread between
each of my pieces is only that I myself have made it. Which, although
rudimentary, is actually a great motivator for me in doing my work.
It is the satisfaction and even relief of creating an object that
exists outside of my own body, and to watch it interact with the world
in different ways. At this point in my development as a prospective
art-maker I do not want to limit myself to one medium, nor would I
be able to. As I try new possibilities and learn new techniques, I
am developing a deeper sense of what I might make in the future and
what I might study in graduate school.
A more
specific set of themes that arise in my work are the narratives
embedded in inanimate found objects and dead things, such as crustaceans
and insects. I often include found objects in my work that speak
for the work better than I can for it. Many times in our history
humans have enforced narratives on others and we, as individuals
today, have to struggle to extricate ourselves from these master
narratives. The objects that I use tell a different story, their
own story. I suppose I'm stealing these objects from their real
lives when I incorporate them into my work. However, many times
we don't recognize these stories, and so I use the found objects
so that their stories may be heard.
I have
been blessed with several supportive and insightful professors here
at Oberlin, and it has been thanks to them and the amount of time
and space that is so abundant in this isolated yet charged landscape
that I have been able to stay productive and inspired.
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Performance
Student
Faculty
