Artist Statement
Taking imagery from newspapers and magazines, I deconstruct the icons of power and loss that populate the printed media, such as soldiers, athletes, celebrities and politicians. When their forms are isolated, they become stripped of their identifying cues of influence, fame, suffering or guilt. In this manner they can be seen purely for their posture and what that might communicate.
The public platform of the newspaper shows us our own fascination not just with glory, but shame and self-loathing. The shamed figure is remarkably similar in its media depiction, and it is clear that public shaming can bring one fame as well. What are the differences between glory and dishonor? Suffering is as celebrated in the media as success, and we can pin our fears on that person, and hope that they will assuage our own guilt.
As a medium that is becoming near obsolete, I view the newspaper as a found object that I can edit and transform - changing contemporary artifacts into makeshift future relics. I make cuts into the newspaper and sink it into wet plaster, and then cradle the piece as it sets into a new form. Some pages I scan after crumpling and painting, to make the final piece a digital print. And sometimes I rework that print with more paint and cutting, then photograph that object to create the final print.
In this way I look to move the most populist of editions into something more carefully crafted and limited. I alter not only the shape, but also the context. While aggressively eradicating these figures in their current mass-reproduced form, I am changing them into otherworldly silhouettes that distract from their social constructs and allow us to see the whole of them.