I Love You; I'm Glad I Exist

Author/Artist Name

Ashlynn Eve McIntyreFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Spring 4-29-2022

Artist Statement

Artist Statement

Ash Eve McIntyre

I create figural work exploring themes of object-human relationships in the context of childhood trauma and its aftermath. The works are made using a variety of media, including wood, ceramic, paint, and even found objects such as stuffed animals. The same craft techniques that are used to create comfort within domestic settings, I utilize to give care to the figures.

In the work, there is an emphasis on comfort and platonic love in my work. Stuffed animals are used in my sculptures to relate back to both domesticity and physical comfort. While the works represent the traumatized individual, the tone of the pieces are generally of emotional recovery and resilience. In this context, elements of ideal domesticity such as stuffed animals and hand-made clothing express realistic and achievable forms of happiness.

Many of my works reference the Greek mythological stories, like those from Ovid’s Metamorphosis, in which characters often undergo a transformation into an object or animal after experiencing a traumatic event. This transformation creates a paradox in which the character both survives and dies. In Ovid’s recounting of Greek myths, their new form is often supposed to protect them from further harm, but ultimately this objectification only further takes away their agency. These references to mythology allows the work to make obvious that traumatic loss of identity is a long-established but often unspoken human reality.

The relationship between psychological death and physical comfort in my work ultimately yields itself to these artworks acting as their own alternative to heaven. Despite surviving, their object bodies have been taxidermied into the state of eternal comfort.

Advisor/Mentor

Mike Martin, Sarah Martin, Antje Gamble, John Utgaard

Description

My exhibition 'I Love You; I'm Glad I Exist' took place in spring of 2022 in the Upper Eagle Gallery of MSU. It featured 9 sculptures and 2 two-dimensional works. The theme of the works revolved around transformation in the aftermath of trauma. In the works, the line between humanity, objectness, and animality is blurred. I ultimately wanted to keep a hopeful tone in the works.

In the center floor space, 8 of the sculptures were arranged on pedestals in a semi-circular position. This arrangement led the viewer into the space, towards the work 'Ashlynn' on the back wall opposite from the 7th floor gallery entrance.

Photo Credit

All photos taken by artist

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

McIntyre, Ashlynn Eve, "I Love You; I'm Glad I Exist" (2022). B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498). 123.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art498/123