Artist Statement
For assessment two, I continued the fluidity of my research from assessment one by extending my final poster; which provoked ideas about childhood memories and nostalgia intertwined with adult desires. These two binary opposites contrasted heavily, which interested me. As I approached this assessment, I knew those two concepts, stood alone were very powerful, however mixed together could have the potential to cause uncertainty, as of course “sexual” desires mixed with “childhood” does not sound like a promising and ethical idea. However, I intended to create dialogue. I wanted to express adult desires through their childhood past, which would hopefully provoke emotions of nostalgia and wistfulness as they reflect on their life through the perplexing work. I wanted to approach my final work by taking aim at sexual desires; acts that are described for adults only. I then thought back to my childhood, I looked at different materials that I thought connected me to my past, which was when I saw the item I automatically was reminiscent of. Just like Jeff Koon’s Balloon Dog, he wanted to create a work of art that triggered celebration. He knew the universal symbol of that was a Balloon Dog, as it stood for birthdays, celebrating and fun, which automatically brings people nostalgia of good memories they shared when they saw a Balloon in the shape of a dog. I used this method for my final work. I intended to created something symbolic, something that people could connect to and relate to, the moment they saw it, however I wanted to create it with a twist.
Through experimentation, that was when I shaped the idea of the colouring in book, a simple and commonly known childhood favourite. When I was researching, it brought my nostalgia as I recalled from my childhood sitting in front of the television, doodling in my book, to Disney princesses and zoo animals. Just like Williams stated, even smell can bring a sense of nostalgia. The crayons, a childish art tool have a distinct smell that instantly draws you to playtime in kindergarten. I wanted my participant to acknowledge all these simple ties with their childhood; yet get drawn back to reality by the X rated content. By editing my work on Photoshop, I created a replica of a childhood colouring in book, however, by including generally known symbols that are for adults, and graphic, pornographic outlines, I remixed the classic, innocent, childhood favourite, into a dark, almost disturbing adult take on the colouring in book; in tern, hopefully creating a strong contrast that leads my audience to a sense of dialogue as each individual will approach this work differently and have different thoughts towards it.
My work hopefully is not only abrupt, simple yet bold, but includes viewer participation. I want my audience to have a turn in colouring in one of the graphic images to really reveal a sense of disruption. By creating participation from the audience, I will let the audience do, as they desire towards the images, allowing them the freedom to express themselves however they want on the paper. Hopefully this will create a sense of separation and uniqueness within each page from my audience as they all will all have different approaches to the work, using different colours, drawing on different sections, it will all stem from the audiences choice. The term “value adding” influenced my work heavily. Thinking to elevate the classic take on the colouring in book, I invented a version that positions itself within a whole new demographic, the adults; where they are brought back to their childhood roots yet not disguised by their growth of a fully functioning adult as they are confronted with the graphic images. This paradoxical twist creates an almost internal struggle, as it feels uncomfortable to mix such an innocent element of your past with such vulgar and unrefined subjectivity. ‘My first Adult colouring in book” will hopefully confront my audience, subjecting them to binary symbols of childhood nostalgia mixed with adult content. I aimed to create a work that encapsulated all my research within desire and how symbols can evoke certain triggers that create emotion, nostalgia reflection and reaction.
