Cuts and Installations

Language is inadequate for communication, yet it pervades daily life. It is repeated in ad placements bearing insincere sentimentality, shown unblinkingly directing public behavior, scribbled in disposable notes and lists, unspoken in imagined dialogues, held on the tip of the tongue in grumbling rebellion.

 

I am interested in the representation of my words--my to-do lists, internal dialogues, imagined dialogues and internalized idioms. I am exploring how written texts can suggest a vocal tone (and sometimes contradict its visual form), how false sentimentality can hollow language of meaning, and how illegible, anxious masses of texts occupy physical space. I work with themes of failure, disappointment, sentimentality, sarcasm and anxiety.

 

My original impulses were the failure of language and the futility of living a meaningful life when daily life is so mundane. I see a parallel between the absurdity of quotidian reality and the inadequacy of words.

 

My drawings, prints, paper cuts, sculptures and installations share plain materials, straightforward techniques and limited palettes. I use the relentless uniformity and verticality of Gothic letters as a knowingly illegible typeface and script. By working with abstracted text, I hope to explore language’s flaws and base uses. I am attracted to trash-like materials, such as tracing paper or plastic bags, because everyday language is often disposable. Installations are often overhead at human scale to suggest seeping worries or looming psychic garbage.

Images

  1. mailinvoicegetcarsmogged and So if I was you, I hope to God you come ready..., (installation view) 2006, plastic / ink on paper, 48" x 66" x 12" / 7' x 11" x 18"
  2. Untitled (one half gallon), 2006, 8 x 8 x1", paper
  3. mailinvoicegetcarsmogged (detail)
  4. Plastic Cut #1 (hypocritical) and UPS NO, 2006, plastic, pins, masking tape, 40" x 30" x 1"
  5. Laundry List, 2006, ink, legal paper, monofilament, 30" x 30" x 12"
  6. To-Do List (detail), 2006, ink, paper, monofilament, 48" x 60" x 5"
  7. To-Do List (installation view)