Veils 2022 Acrylic on Canvas 8' x 10'
Statement

Our reality is constructed from innumerable fragments. Individuals, interactions, relationships, sensory experiences, societies, communities, cultures, ideologies, history, geographies, and indeed the universe itself all owe their existence to ineffably small, unquantifiably many building blocks, themselves composed of even smaller pieces. This cycle of progressive particulation brings to mind detail - oriented processes of ornamentation such as pointillism, stippling, mosaic art, etc. By utilizing these media that emphasize their own fragmentary nature, I hope to relate my practice to the particulate nature of our reality and the way in which we experience it. Within each mural, I hope to discuss a specific social and cultural concept within Western society through the lens of “fragmentation”. The purpose of the dots is therefore twofold. Firstly, I aim to subvert the archaic imagery that is referenced in each piece by capturing it through a mode of mark-making inspired by the modernist movement of impressionism. Secondly, I hope to draw a correlation between the past and the present. By putting a modern, impressionistic spin on imagery from ancient mythological canons, I hope to unite the concept of the ancient and the contemporary within a throughline of the extremely complex fragmentation that unites them both, represented by the multiplicity of dots. I aim to invite the viewer to consider the true complexity of human history and civilization (despite what they have come to know as “objectively true history” over time). No effect owes itself to any single cause (or “checklist” of causes), just like no pointillist image owes itself to any single dot on the canvas. Ultimately, the nature of the physical and mental constructs which constantly surround us is simply an image composited from so many innumerable fragments.

General Fine Arts (BFA) Students