How do we visually record experiences provoked by a missing person, place, or thing? What triggers us to recall such moments? I am currently developing a body of art that explores memory perception through modifying furniture parts, and presenting them on the wall. I look at simple forms and textures like my grandparent's chair, or fuzzy filigree textured wallpaper, and study how effectively an upholstered object evokes memory. My current studio work involves the transformation of memories into subversive upholstered vessels and objects that parallel the grounds of contextualizing furniture. I have given this exploration a name: Familiarture.
Familiarture is a series of sculptures that explore furniture as subject. These modified upholstered forms create a familiar environment with anomalous furniture-like objects that exploit the possibilities of what furniture is, what furniture does, and what furniture reminds us of. In presenting these objects, moreover, I treat the audience to a glimpse of my personal history through upholstered sculptures. I use the cavity as a metaphor for the body and create art works that evoke a sense of loss and longing for the known and unknown. I begin with the familiar family furniture and deconstruct the object through modification to create something new.
The final artwork hovers in an in-between state, open to multiple interpretations. These works pose as altars, shrines, or containers evoking a sense of connection between the audience and these mysterious objects.