Artist Statement
We construct and surround ourselves with things that give us support-ideas, morals, people. Sometimes those things puncture and breakdown, as we watch the air escape from the bloated straw dummy. We build the dummy up to knock it down. Violence hovers between figure and object.
The presented work provides instances of collusion where carpet grounds rupture, curl, and tear attaining gestures of significance. The cast, carpeted grounds are reminiscent of suburban environs and metaphoric of a barrier. The stained remnants beckon for a projected narrative as much as they pretend to be an abstracted, painterly object. They are mannered and graffittied as evidence, as residue, and perhaps even as testament. Some of the resulting works often appear, humorous, rude, dumb, and abject with a sly, dark vein pulsing through them.
Pati Beachley