ARTIST STATEMENT

Excavation is a series of mixed media abstract works exploring the representation of communities through the use of public spaces. With 2023 being the year of Macon’s Bicentennial, I thought about how the city is being represented during this time. I also wanted to continue exploring how to reinterpret materials in my work, so I decided to collect objects from public spaces in Macon and use them to create abstract mixed media pieces. I believe public space is a unique area that can be accessed by everyone, so it serves as an ecosystem for those who utilize it.

This body of work started with the idea that I would collect objects from different public spaces in Macon in order to see the differences and similarities throughout communities. After visiting the first park, Central City Park, I decided I wanted this specific space to be my primary focus. The size of the park and its history was a big enough subject that I wanted to fully explore it throughout the entirety of this work. I began by visiting the park multiple times and surveying the land and collecting anything I found. While in the park I also documented different structures and elements that felt significant or interesting.

After cleaning all the objects, I began to organize them by color I started to make the connections of the different objects and who might have used them. They range from everyday objects like beer caps, balloons, candy wrappers, cigars and cigarette packaging to objects that were unrecognizable from the length of time they have been there. My approach to using these objects was to transform them into something else while still being somewhat recognizable. I started to arrange them into small abstract sculptures that ended up looking like something that had been dissected and put on display

Thinking about display and dissection, I thought more about my process of collecting and searching for objects within the park and what might be unique about the park itself. The park is located right next to the Ocmulgee National Historic Park, which is where the largest archeological dig in US history occurred between 1933 and 1936. This connection made me want to explore more about the subject of excavation. When making this work I thought about how physical land contains history and the many layers there are to explore. I wanted the viewer to have the experience of looking through layers and then making the connection with objects, just like I did when I was surveying the park.

I began experimenting on how to build layers within the work. It started with building linear layers through the smaller abstract pieces. I had many discarded paintings on paper that I had used to swatch paint while working on a previous series. To make the layers I ran the papers through a paper shredder which gave them some 3 dimensionality After arranging them on the panel around the found objects, I saw that I wanted these to be more 3 dimensional pieces. With each small panel I wanted to use the objects and paper in a different way. Collectively all of the small panel pieces are connected to each other but are different in their own unique way. I wanted these to feel as if they were representative of a unique aspect that contributes to a larger community.

The idea of finding unseen aspects of a community is a common theme in my work. This series is a continuation of several previous bodies of work I have created over the past year The exploration of the subject matter of public space was the theme of my photo series A Space With Many Names in which I used photography to capture aspects of Anderson and Daisy Park in downtown Macon. While making this work I started to notice how objects in public spaces can show the activity and connection of the people who use it. My most recent work from The Woman at The Desk began my interest in using nontraditional materials to develop a new language in my art practice. I’m always pushing to develop my abstract work as a way to transform and express different subjects through lines, color, and form.

The display of this work is what ties the theme of excavation throughout each piece. I researched museum displays and thought about how each piece in itself should be presented. Collectively I wanted to mix each type of work together to present the work as my own version of what you may find in a museum. It is a mix of my own creations, where I have transformed the objects I found, along with objects that have been transformed on their own through time.