Statement 3

What defines identity? There is more to it than "identity is who you are". As people we individually identify with communities greater than ourselves, with society, collective entities that often dictate certain protocols, perception, and cultural codes. So, to an extent, we are what they say we are, or what we are supposed to be. As a person of mixed racial and ethnic background, I am quite familiar with existing in and identifying with two different groups at once. Although I identify with two unique cultures, I am often pressured to choose between the two, which makes me sometimes feel that I am not a part of either camp, but in my own grey area between the two. What interests me about all this is picking up on the tools and methods that people use to identify themselves, and then visually re/deconstructing them. Some examples might be clothing and fashion, social cliques, race, sexuality, language, possession, and nowadays technology.

I attempt to do this in my work in a number of ways, though primarily by juxtaposing or marrying seemingly opposite imagery. By presenting an image or collection of images that has something amiss, something that seems contradictory to our normal way of perceiving, I hope to momentarily confuse my audience. The approach varies depending on the project, but I try and stick to simple materials in the presentation of my prints and collages. Wood, clay, string, and nails maintain the handmade quality that I can think can be found in prints, while simultaneously belying the occasional modern and technologically generated content of my imagery.

My way of working, as well as my desire to engage the viewer through a sort of “double-take” reaction, stems from what I believe to be the human experience as well as my own personal life and my imagination; my own personal search for self, which is constantly influx. Through playing with notions of truth and perception, I want people to temporarily join me in uncertainty, and investigate, question, and reevaluate the way in which they see the subject matter as well as themselves.

Tom Huck

Tom Huck is a St. Louis based artist who works primarily in print media, his specialty being woodcuts. The influence of Jose Posada and other famous printmakers such as Goya and Durer is quite apparent in his large, layered and almost chaotic scenes. Huck's prints are quite large, and contain a stunning level of detail and use of contrast. He achieves a surreal level of depth despite the abstracted and grotesque nature of his characters.

The grotesque quality of Huck's figures is emphasized further by the carnival-like feel to his prints; they evoke the idea of the spectacle. These prints in particular come from series that the artist bases off of strange narratives, urban myths and stories that nobody can say are or aren't true. There is also definitely an element of social criticism, though masked with an uneasy humor.

It's as though Huck presents us with beautiful but exaggerated depictions of real scenes, pieces of the human experience, and then yanks the rug out from under us by challenging ideas of beauty, sexuality, and morality. The violence in his imagery is quieted and almost completely subdued by the various and numerous layers of action and scenery.

Check out Tom Huck's website and gallery: EVIL PRINTS

Elsa Mora:

Elsa Mora is a Cuban born artist living and making work in Los Angeles, California. What drew me to her work was the intimate quality she infuses in her images and sculptures. Her characters and scenes are silent stories and faces, nameless creatures and women looking over their shoulders at you and drawing you in. There is a beautiful natural quality to her pieces, which she maintains through a variety of media. Interestingly, while she makes and sells prints of work, these intricate black and white designs begin as paper cutouts.

I enjoy the handmade look to her pieces as well. She makes use of many different craft materials to make things such as buttons, enamel cameos, porcelain, and paper sculptures which she often incorporates in installations and collages. To me, Elsa Mora's approach of combining human and natural (plant and animal) imagery, such as bees and dragonflies, takes advantage of the inherent symbolism and narrative quality in nature, and comments on the human experience. Her arrangements deal with communities and relationships, memories and experiences.
I particularly like this piece from a 2001 exhibition entitled MUTE. She used handmade porcelain objects that represented an accumulation of her silence about past traumas and experiences in her life. Her presentation consisted of massive photographs of the objects interacting with her body and overlooking a table displaying the porcelain objects themselves, which I thought communicated her personal story very clearly and intimately.

More Images.

Artist Statement!

As people we all individually identify with communities greater than ourselves, with society; these collective entities often dictate certain protocols, perception, and cultural codes. So, to an extent, we are what they say we are, or what we are supposed to be. As a person of mixed racial and ethnic background, I am very familiar with existing in and identifying with two different groups at once. Although I identify with two unique cultures, I am often pressured to choose between the two, which makes me sometimes feel that I am not a part of either camp, but in my own grey area between the two.

This grey area, I believe, exists in some form for everyone on some level. It’s when all the pieces don’t seem to fit right, and we are forced to take a step back and reevaluate ourselves and our world, as well as how we interact. Culture (language, dress), race, possessions and collections, intimate narratives, and experience are all different ways in which we identify ourselves. Each of these can be visually deconstructed and subverted through the juxtaposition or marriage of contradictory imagery. Hopefully, as a result of adding the extra piece that oddly doesn’t fit, people will venture into the grey to investigate, and perhaps leave with an interesting thought or two that they might not have had otherwise.

My imagery, as well as my interest in the “double-take” reaction, stems from what I believe to be the human experience, as well as my own personal life and my imagination; my own personal search for self. Since these things are always changing in some way or another, so is my visual content and my approach. I enjoy injecting a bit of humor or surprise in addition to unease and discomfort, or confusion and disgust.