I am fascinated by the technology of the nineteenth century and it's
inextricable link to the Victorian sensibility. The hallmark of this
aesthetic lies in its tightly-laced obsession with detail and
decoration, decorum and charm. All objects, from a memory quilt to a
camera, were compulsively lavished with the same ornamental decorations.
While on one level my modernity is repelled by this fussiness, on
another level I feel oddly liberated by this outrageously sensual
adornment of objects, regardless of their function.
Yet the Victorian fixation on complicated patterning belies a fear of
the empty space. I feel there is, within their flourishes, a language I
must decipher. To get close enough, to get inside the design is to see
patterns of desire, patterns of repression, a pattern that blossoms to
encompass generations. As Louise Bourgeois once said, "...The making of
art is an insight into the source of compulsion....Art is the privilege
of insight into craving."
The processes I am drawn to require much tedious, repetitive labor.
Although I often work with sophisticated technology, I see my work in
the tradition of women's lap craft. I find the time spent obsessively
performing these mundane tasks is essential, for it is during this time
that I develop an intimate understanding of the imagery I create. I hand
paint one frame at a time; I move images, pixel by pixel; I shoot film
frame by frame. With my attention focused on the miniature, each frame
is a separate entity, an entire world. My fascination with the handmade,
the awkward and sentimental is at odds with the contemporary medium
within which I work. The dynamic play between practical technology and
rhapsodic subject matter is the motivation that propels my work forward.
This series of images was created like photograms, by placing organic
material on unexposed slide film and flashing it with light. I then
scanned the images into the computer and performed minimal adjustments
before outputting them to Polaroid pack film. The final images are
Polaroid emulsion transfers on watercolor paper.
