Artist Statement

Short Stories & Make Believe

Consciences collecting of various things has evolved throughout the history of humanity, from its instinctively purist form consisting of memories, to the modern materialistic behavior often displayed by the privilege, but prevalent in all classes and lifestyles. The rational and practice of restoring objects, structures and places, other than for educational value, preserves the past, creates a function, and sustains humanities immortality. Even trivia and memorability play a greater role for people who find solace in collecting both personal and memorable informational trinkets. Ironically, many of our memories whether cherished or disparage are unconsciously forgotten-lying dormant, sometimes tethered to the most mundane items whether in a collection or not, where they’re inadvertently discovered later, often years removed, igniting an association to a lost memory. The acquisition process in any form, reserves a place in the life style of most individuals, and it’s this unique behavior, which provides validity to their life’s experience andnurtures their existence. The perception of acquiring immortality through one’s legacy has evolved beyond traditional procreation methods, where offspring inherit the role and fate. Facebook now empowers individuals to a networking base, providing comfort by securing a virtual-collective social legacy. Of course, names of Individuals with significant contributions to humanity, are archived by individuals, organizations and governments, however, most people come to the realization, they’re existence is distilled down to things surrounding them, and the memories attached to those things whether living or not.

The Collection Series highlights the methods, types and value individuals place on preserving their memories by various objects. Some people treat these items as found and trivial objects, modeling a trophy. Others earn them as a reward for accomplishments and most acquire them as either a gift, impulse purchase or a necessity. Many objects, which withstand the test of time regardless of their relevancy, solidify their importance due to purely the length of time the item has been a presence in one’s life.

The pieces Short Stories and Make Believe parallel the early lives of two young boys, a generation and thousands of miles apart. Short Stories depicts collected experiences from a single page in a year book of both found objects and various items associated with places and people, while Make Believe collectively combines toys and their respective created environments associated with imaginary play-time moments.