Symposium Year

2020

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Start Date

2-8-2020 8:00 AM

End Date

2-8-2020 12:30 PM

Description

Artist Statement

My work of paintings and drawings shares an honest and sensitive portrayal of the human form in an effort to honor how life wears a body. I render similar body parts from family members at different stages of life to reflect the metamorphosis we undergo with time. The impact of time and age manifests itself within my own family. On one hand, I have two adolescent children, whose bodies are in flux as they mature through puberty. They are perfectly plump, flexible, free of scars and signs of wear. On the other, my parents’ bodies continually bend with the weight of time. My dad hobbles on two new knees; my mother’s joints, stiff from arthritis, rise against her thinning skin. At middle age, I dwell somewhere in-between them, in a place where my muscles still harbor youthful strength but persistently ache. Contemplating the bodies of those I love, I feel both nostalgia for my childhood body that could bend and twist and move so freely, and unease for what lies ahead. When I hold my daughter’s fleshy hand, I am reminded of when mine resembled hers. Now, in my own hands I recognize my mother’s rising veins that I once traced as a child. As I study my mom’s aged fingers, I notice a fragility in them; the plumpness has vanished, exposing the pathways of her bones. Seeking to express sentimentality and trepidation about change, I paint with oil on hardboard panels that my father and I built together. I choose oil because of unexpected blending and marks associated with wet-on-wet application. My intent is to embrace the inevitability of aging.

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