Artist Statement

Let them Eat Cake

            I have decided to discuss the topic of over indulgence in today’s society. Many people are aware of how poor and in need the rest of the world is; however, little is done to remedy this on a personal level or societal level.  People, including myself, may claim to be thoughtful about what is going on outside their realm of existence but when it comes down to it, we are unwilling to change our lavish lifestyle for the benefit of society. The way our culture is set up in America is extremely consumeristic. This comes at a price. Taking resources, which would otherwise benefit other countries, and the exploiting cheap labor overseas has created societies trapped in poverty. The French revolution is an event well known in history, and a leader who did not really understand what was truly going on outside her palace made one of the most iconic statements in the world. Marie Antoinette said the famous words, “Let them eat cake” in suggestion to the thousands of starving civilians outside her walls. If this analogy seems exaggerated, we have already reached the same point of ignorance. I hope to inspire people to make small changes, be more aware of their consumption, and start a revolution where the world is considerate of the tolls placed on the third world countries as well as the tension placed on nature.

chine collé inspiration

Purgatoria

hard ground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and chine colle on paper

Shrooming

Experimented with the process of chine collé last week. Several things that became apparent with this method of printing were the importance of good materials, such as glue; order of process, such as placing glue on the pieces before placing them on the plate; finally, the various ways the ink spreads across the different textures of paper. Here is my plate before I printed it:

Cake progress

Figuring out how to represent food has been difficult but I figured it out. 

trees around the world

Recently I began following a blog called trees in art. Trees are so unique and beautiful along with providing so much to the human existence including fresh air, water filtration, ground covering and shade. Even if these things were not vital for life, trees and other plant life are known to have medicinal purposes beneficial for curing health concerns arising in western society.

One reason I want to focus on the tree is to bring awareness to the consumption of our resources. And encourage mindfulness of the loss of beauty and diversity we loose with each species of tree lost. The work below is a screenprint capturing the beauty and the essence of what trees can inspire humanity to produce in art. 

Menashe Kadishman, [title not known] From The Forest, 1969, Screenprint on paper, London, Tate

Cake time

This afternoon I plan to complete my Marie Antoinette series. The finishing touches will include various dessert images designed to be viewed together along with the text.

Some inspiration for the little desserts:

Clear-cut takeover

British Columbia clear-cut

Sometimes called the Brazil of the North, Canada has not been kind to its native forests as seen by clear-cut logging on Vancouver Island

‘Human domination over nature is quite simply an illusion, a passing dream by a naive species. It is an illusion that has cost us much, ensnared us in our own designs, given us a few boasts to make about our courage and genius, but all the same it is an illusion.’ Donald Worster

Photograph: Garth Lentz

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/gallery/2015/apr/01/over-population-over-consumption-in-pictures#img-10

Check out these pictures, they opened my eyes to some of the consumption issues we face around the world.