artist statement (2008)
Since 2001, I have been interested in Roman mosaics and their narrative depiction
of daily life. I am intrigued by how the mosaics consisted of small pixel like squares
that were structured in a non-grid, free form manner. I responded to the Roman
mosaics by creating portraits with visible pixels. The tightly configured grid
structure of the digital pixilated portraits is contrasted against the more free-formed
Roman mosaic aesthetic. The portraits are abstracted and made indefinite by
pixilation and present anonymity. The landscape format, size, and frames reference
smart phones or computer monitors and suggest internet communication and
online activities.
My current work references mosaics and tile murals. My main interest in online
activities continues to manifest in this series, exploring the relationship between
technology and our lives. In 2007, I became concerned with Second Life, a 3D
virtual world. Second Life is created by its residents and inhabited by millions of
users from around the globe who create many communities for entertainment,
friendship, education, businesses, etc. Although users can express their identities
by creating custom avatars, the environment is established to keep the residents’
anonymity.
Anonymous blogs, forums, and social sites are a new way of social interaction.
They are quite unique to our contemporary lives. By creating two vantage points
and presenting images from both the real and virtual worlds in one piece, the work
expresses the integration of real life and virtual life, and how we quickly weave
through these two worlds on a daily basis.