Means of Preservation

Author/Artist Name

Bailey RomanFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Spring 5-2020

Artist Statement

In my work, I use imagery of food that has been destroyed and then preserved to create an allegory for maintaining relationships that should be severed. Parasitic relationships occur frequently, as human nature tends to allow toxic endeavors to continue through a means that is more destructive rather than productive. I perform and then document moments with the fruit that allude to unmet expectations, a rotting sense of escapism, or a lingering negative emotion that haunts the subject. I destroy the objects through flame, microwaving, boiling, smashing, stabbing and more chaotic means, then try to preserve what has been destroyed through petrification, freezing, and covering the item in wax. These actions embody the absurdity of desperately trying to hold onto rotten and destructive relationships.

I use a limited but highly saturated color palette that creates a kinetic emotional connection in the work, in a similar way that a conductor directs and has a physical impact through a visual connection rather than an auditory one. My work process naturally includes working on multiple pieces at the same time and following through with a dance to strike a physical chord through a visual means with the viewers. The mark making is expressive but controlled. I balance tight rendering with loose strokes of the paint brush and or charcoal in order to create an entryway to the emotion. My compositions evolve with the mood that the painting takes on; the more frantic and busy the mark marking, the composition becomes more emotionally charged. Some compositions the more simplistic the more sobering the tone is. In my work I hope the viewer takes these extreme measures of preservation as an allegory of the costs of not letting go and not holding onto personal boundaries.

Throughout my process of research I scour through the music of the decade and research the use of citrus in song lyrics and consider how it conveys to contemporary symbolism. I also derive influence visually from varying artists who direct their music videos mostly independently i.e Kevin Abstract (self directed) and Tierra Whack (co-directed by Thibaut Duverneix and Mathieu Léger). The music videos of these artists reference an inspirational range from theatrical Maximalist to narrative takes on stunt and prank reality t.v shows, which in turn greatly influences the way I approach my process of creating my still lives in terms of compositions and color palettes. In the visual arts sector, artists who left their mark on me include: Erwan Frotin, Danger Daniel, and Leila Nadir/Cary Peppermint (co-op artists) for their high saturation and use of dynamic but simple composition. The artists Erwan Frotin, Leila Nadir and Cary Peppermint create still life objects from edible matter and straddle the boundary between 2D and 3D work. I relate to the way these artists draw from the ephemeral nature of food in the way it breaks down and while also commenting on how humans alter it and interact with it.

Advisor/Mentor

Danielle Muzina, Jeanne Beaver, Todd Herzberg, Mike Martin

Description

How Do You Deal With a Crocodile Smile? 36" acrylic,ink, chalk pastel on birchwood

Let's put a pin in it, 24 x 36, house paint, acrylic, chalk pastel, thumb tacks, dehydrated lemon slices, 4 Real Diaethria clymena "88" Butterflies, sewing pins on mat board on wood. Pompeii (honeymoon), 3.75x4ft, 2020, Acrylic, chalk pastel, wood Persephone, 3.75x4ft, 2020, acrylic, chalk pastel, house paint, hand sanitizer on wood We're Screwed, 20x6x19inch,2020, ceramic, glazing, acrylic paint on wood What i did to you vs what you did to me, 37.5 x 40 inch, india ink, ink, chalk pastel, acrylic on paper I was great you were fake, 24 x 36inch 2019, acrylic, house paint, lemon, lemon squeezer, chalk pastel on wood Scorpion and the Frog, 24 x 36 inch, 2019, acrylic, chalk pastel, house paint, yarn, red electrical tape, lemon on wood BFA Postcard Jars displayed with their matching work Jars to be displayed next to artist statement Exhibition Documentation Follow link for digital gallery https://www.artsteps.com/view/5e7f749ddc0dd3184635e473?fbclid=IwAR1ce9ZsWV72DxQgk6-rkqwLpIYTgLMEP07VrBerfQVOYJ2XjbkeBiAkC7g

Photo Credit

website used for digital exhibition Artsteps

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Roman, Bailey, "Means of Preservation" (2020). B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498). 53.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art498/53