Something Bigger: Identity and Relationships
“Something Bigger” is a virtual show that explores the work of four college artists who seek to understand concepts that are larger than just themselves and how we as individuals fit into the equation. By discussing our interactions with others through technology, depicting multi-faceted identities and experiences, uniting communities by location, and revealing the relationship between humans and fungi, this exhibition details four approaches to describing our human role as a piece of a larger whole. The artists use diverse media and styles to communicate their unique takes on these complicated topics.
Liminal Paraphernalia
This project defines what my art development has been throughout my years in college. I have studied multiple interpretations of liminality while developing my artistic interests.
Liminality, or that area of ambiguity and disorientation between two established categories of existence, can be a difficult area of study. Liminality is constantly approaching the asymptote of existence but never quite reaching it. Society tends to fear and reject this infinite decimal of possibility, but some learn to accept it and embrace it. I have already studied liminal beings in my past work, more specifically those who may be called “mixed-race” or multicultural. They are constantly in a place of fluid identity and becoming, but society is never pleased with this and therefore the masses still attempt to label these beings. The oversimplification of their identity makes them invisible. In my most recent work, I aimed to bring this constant societal rejection to light and to give awareness of their beauty and variety. I later shifted from society’s rejection of personal liminal identities, towards society’s forceful placement of individuals in liminal spaces. In my recent work, I explore this concept through impactful current events that also hold some kind of global perspective such as long term stay in airports due to other migration complications. Liminality is present in all and in nothing, which allows my work to continue to evolve infinitely.
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This divides my overall work in three sections: Liminal Spaces, Liminal Identities, and Society and Liminal Spaces.
Liminal Spaces
My journey towards my focus on liminal spaces began on a tangent. I began my advanced studio work focusing on concepts surrounding my computer science major. My focus began as attempting to demonstrate the interaction between people and technology in a positive light to backfire all the negative commentary regarding technology addiction. As i developed these ideas I realized that pieces such as CSC_live.gif included liminal spaces, such as spaces displaying activity at times that they are usually not active or without people. This pushed me towards continuing to develop liminal spaces.
The "Waiting" series
2017. Acrylic on paper
5.5" x 8" each.
The "Dancing" series
2017. Paper cutouts
7.5" x 5.5" x 0.75" each
Other works
Liminal Identities
During my second semester of development I continued to research liminal spaces, but now I decided to have a specific focus. I decided to focus on liminal identities, more specifically, those who are considered mixed race. I took inspirations on many of my pieces from artists such as Glen Ligon.
Society and Liminal Spaces
During my third and last semester developing these ideas I continued to work with liminal identities regarding race and ethnicity, but I now focused on liminal spaces that society forces individuals to be in instead of liminal spaces society reject.
The "Airport Living" series
2020. Acrylic on watercolor paper, plexiglass, magazine collage.
12” x 9” each
I began my research this semester with my interest in travel, having traveled in planes for a large part of my life. I wanted to find a way to incorporate airports and related items to my pieces because I still believe they are a large aspect of the development of liminal identities. They also serve as a liminal space since because they are a temporary space for people to be while they wait to arrive to their destination. This is the case For the majority of people, but not to all.
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Throughout my research I found cases of people who had to stay in airports for incredibly long periods of time because of issues with their identity. Some cases included people who traveled to different countries as refugees but could not step into the soil of the country because they did not have the appropriate documentation. Cases like these got so extreme to the point that some people ended up living these buildings. The most extreme cases found was that of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lived in an airport for almost 18 years. He, and many others, were forced to stay in these liminal spaces to different extents.
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The background of these three pieces are paintings based off of photographs I had the pleasure to take in various areas of airports. Each composition represents a different time of the day (morning, afternoon, and night). The paintings are covered with a plexiglass on which there are multiple magazine cutouts of items that would be found in airports and airplanes and used during those times of the day. These are meant to represent what the daily lives of these individuals may look like, and how they may end up blending with their identity. There is a slight distance between the paintings and the plexiglass. This separation as well as the use of commercial products on the plexiglass serves as a reminder that this man-made restriction is meant to be temporary regardless of how much it may affect the individual.
