Artist Statement

Kaye Saxe

4/21/2014

                                                                      Statement

As an artist, I feel like often I can’t always see the same connections that appear obvious to viewers. When someone works so closely to a project, sometimes it becomes a mind over matter—meaning that you see what you want to see and possible connections can be overlooked. So with the task to find connections within my work, I hope to raise connections that I have noticed and connections that have caught me by surprise.

I know what I like and have interest in, and ultimately this semester that has been exploring furniture. This connection takes root in my love of interior design and home improvement. From the start of this semester it was not my intention to make the design of each piece so strongly rooted in furniture; but as the semester progressed, furniture and design became a essential ingredient in my work. I am discovering that my work plays off the idea of domesticity as well. But I also noticed that my work doesn’t necessarily take a stand on feminism or anti domesticity, but a connection to creating a space or making the notion of my work being in a space (in a way that being in a space is important to the piece itself.) In my third piece, I created a 17^th century style lounge chair and wig with a quote. Although it was a very feminine piece, creating a space was a very component. I needed to make sure that the pieces fit together and I knew that to make the piece effective the pieces had to create a space. For my second piece, I made a chair from metal and wood. Although it was only a chair, I created a space through the chair itself. My chair created a space because of how the chair emoted a sense of belonging to someone. My chair had many elements of nostalgia in its craftsmanship: with it’s tiny belt buckle of a horse and buggy on the foot rest and the warm colors of the seat and belt buckles I used. The piece not only created a space in the gallery, it created a sense of space because it felt worn and used.

My first project guidelines were to draw out of a hat a topic and a material; luck of the draw, I picked consumerism and bows. A quick Google search definition of consumerism, “the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable.” Another definition, “protecting consumers against defective products, misleading advertising, etc.” so while consumerism can be a form of protection, it is also a beacon of greed. While bows can be a symbol of beauty and femininity, as well as  masculinity. So with all of that information, I was drawn to make a pillow because of it’s ties towards consumerism in itself because it is a product, but also because it can symbolize protection and people’s inner emotions all wrapped up in a product meant to sell.  My tattered pillow showed the emotion of someone scrunching up and screaming into their pillow, which symbolized the consumerism people fall into that goes much more than simply buying stuff; the idea of buying into doubt, fears, entitlement, etc. Which I felt also connected to my most recent work (the lounge, wig, and quote,) where I was also making a commentary on life and this suffocating ignorance. The pillow piece was about release, while my wig piece was about containing. I noticed that between these two pieces,  they both showed the effects release and holding it in can do. While the wig seemed to show no strain at all, that perfection to me, is imperfection in itself. This semester my work explored emotion in inanimate objects My final sculpture for the semester will be a bed made out of cigarettes; which is a personal piece to me as it relates to my sister. Which also connects to my overall theme of domesticity and how furniture can reflect the quality or condition of the home and the people who reside there.

I am drawn to the materials wood and metal, found materials, and combining the colors gold, bronze, and silver. In each piece from this semester, I have elements of all of those things; exposed through small detailing of gold and silver on the shells in my wig to the random collection of objects mixed and matched in my chair piece. What I like about art is how it can be made out from anything. My resolve is to show how art can be made out from inexpensive materials. This also connects to my love of home improvement and do it yourself projects that I always watch on HGTV; people will find in my work a lot of materials that I picked up for little to nothing. As a student, being on a budget is not surprising, but my work isn’t about being cheap; my work shows innovation within everyday objects.  My second work this semester was the chair made from found objects. Connections made from meaning is trickier to do since I was really inspired by form, especially the form of the human spine, so there isn’t a story connection like the other pieces. However it connects with the others other than being a piece of furniture. I see in each of my pieces a emphasis on detail—from head to toe, so to speak. I see how in each piece of work I like to play around with lots of material in a way that looks  minimal because the finish is tight. There are connections between the finish in each and how I play around with lots of material. Found or store-bought, I seem to make them look cohesive and like I spent money on everything (even if many were found objects!)For my final project I utilized found objects again with used cigarette buds and boxes, cardboard, scrap 2X4, and a metal bed frame from Goodwill for 9 bucks. Art on a budget doesn’t mean that the work is cheap, to me, it shows creativity and ingenuity that is shown in each of my sculpture pieces from this semester.