My Universe
Artist Statement
I find my inspiration through the paradoxical nature of existence. For me, the only way to grip with the unanswerable questions is through storytelling.
The process of editing has always thrilled me because of the power it gives me over my own work. I am the most inspired in the editing room where I am the creator of every moment -- emphasizing moments of intensity, creating moments of struggle, and piecing together a narrative.
My aim as an artist is to express the way I view the present moment. The everlasting now that becomes the future as quickly as it remains in the past. I find myself able to express this as I zoom into the mechanisms that make life what it is.
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I believe the video has the power to influence our decisions on an innate level. We see, we feel, we think.
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Solace
A collaboration with the Camiella Symphony -- a performance meant to shine a light on "young talent". I participated by creating a short video to be displayed behind Colin Regan's, 17 years old, original piece.
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It was a new experience as an artist to reach out of my comfort zone and explore video art through the symphony.
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I decided to focus my piece around colors, because I was inspired by the familiar yet profoundly moving nature of the song.
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The first video is a live performance of the piece and the second is the video art alone.
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​“One note does not make a symphony; one artist does not make an orchestra.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo
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Cosmology of Two
A video art installation
The passing of time is something that no one can escape. We are given the knowledge of death so that we may truly live. We may forget about it when in the arms of our beloved or we may be all too aware of a moments impermanence. Existence is given, never earned. What is it that we should do with it?
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Below you will find three youtube videos -- During the live installation these were all projected onto three separate walls and played on a loop. Please click on all three one immediately after the other to get an idea of what the installation would look like live.
Clock
Dance between ghosts
Fire, water, earth, metal, wind
Project Statement
Audience members given this set of instructions before entering room.
1. Be present.
2. Pick up the pen and mark your own words of wisdom on the paper provided. How do you cope with your existence?
3. Take a translated excerpt from the Tao Te Ching.
4. Continue.
This piece requires three screens to play on continuous loops. Excerpts from the Tao Te Ching must accompany the piece scattered on a table in the middle of the installation next to a blank paper. Video leaves marks on the mind, but to have something physical and tangible allows visitors to leave with more than they came, literally. This installation combines these two ways of being changed. The Tao Te Ching excerpts are translated from the original Tao created by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu whose writings continue to help me accept, harness, and love the various paradoxes of life.
The three projections serve as my current interpretation of how humans have used the essential elements of water, fire, wood, metal, and earth to build culture while we perch ourselves on this planet. The world is full of hatred, war, deceit and corruption making it sometimes difficult to see that there is also so much beauty. It is my belief that if we are in tune with the world around us, we may transcend time.
This installation is my personal expression of being present, and how I harness the passage of time. The moon that revolves around the ticking clock is a reminder of impermanence, the dance between ghosts represents the duality between individuality and shared human experience, and the montage emphasizes the connectedness of life.
The passing of time is something that no one can escape. We are given the knowledge of death so that we may truly live. We may forget about it when in the arms of our beloved or we may be all too aware of a moments impermanence. Existence is given to anyone who has the ability to read this right now. You are given this human experience, you do not have any obligations, but to live it.
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Process
The beginning.
I started off this journey with the idea of having two dancers, in separate projections, communicating to each other through dance. As a collaborated with a choreographer I was inspired by the dance she had created and realized there was more to this project than the dancers. I uploaded the first dance I ever saw on my instagram to build awareness that I was working on a project.
Filming
I filmed the first dance which ended up being a duet between two dancers. I saw how the dance moves were different for each dancer and they seemed to contrast each other in movement, but every move was tailored to the gender of the dancer. This made me think about, the yin and the yang. It made me realize the dancers differences do not go against each other, but work to create a whole. I was inspired further by this concept. I found that the concept of connectedness was something I wanted to explore.
First Exhibition
I decided to overlay the two dancers on the screens so that they were ghosts to each other. Then I decided I needed two more screens images that would strengthen the original dance. I was inspired by the way energies in the universe create dynamics. Such as the way the light beams through trees to make them exceptionally green but how that same light creates a dark shadow on the ground. I provided both of those images as a way to link the energies of the two different dancers to the energies of nature. It was a hilarious experience to install something and force people to come see my work. The feedback I got was not at all what I expected, and inspired me to be clearer on emphasizing the interconnectedness of humans, nature, and time.
Final Exhibition
Watching my project transform has been a humbling experience becasue I didn't realize that what I wanted to express would change so much due to the effect my videos had on me as well as personal struggles I was facing throughout the 10 weeks of working on this project. I realized that what I wanted to express all along was that in order to be present we need to be feel connected to other humans regardless of if we are in physical contact with them. We need to be aware of our surroundings and what has built the mechanisms of our society. And we need to find solace in the passage of time so that we may truly live.