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Negotiated Narratives | 2017

 

Each individual is responsible for constructing their own reality--bridging the gaps between new, unfamiliar information acquired daily, and their existing perception.

 

My current series addresses these psychological operations.  Through specialized modes of rendering varied figures and incorporating drawing within paintings, I aim to examine the dual processes of reshaping observations to fit perception, and conversely, reshaping perception to accommodate new, challenging observations. Upon introduction to specific figurative scenes, paired with diagrammatic representations of psychological structures, viewers are invited to entertain the emotional ramifications accompanying a reformation of perception.

 

Diagrams charting separate phases of cognitive functions, or visualized structures of a dynamic psyche, directly discuss mechanisms involved in the incorporation of information gleaned from any worldly interaction into a individual’s understanding.  Heavily altered sketchbook inclusions offer an example of a homogenized reality, blending perforated edges and disparate subjects--with systematic outlining and compression of space with a standardized latex paint--into a single string of consciousness.

 

Figure paintings exhibiting specific “scenes” prompt the viewers to assume the role of observer and participant in each piece. Whether or not concrete meaning can be gleaned from context information, my paintings simulate the experience of overcoming a dissociated view of an occurrence and conducting a narrative of relevance. 

If willing, viewers may become participants of painted scenes, and attempt to negotiate the disconnect between empathized desires for intimacy, and their own objective observations.  With this stage of engagement, I aim to question relationships between actual life occurrences and the potentially of perception.

 

The negotiation and reformation of individuals’ developing realities is a common thread within my work, driving me to further explore the continual affectation of past and current understandings and the in the way in which we weave personal truths.