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Waking Up and...

Waking UP and Realizing I'm Part of the System borrows a centrifugal figure from Kasimir Malevich's The Knife Grinder (1912) developing him into a figure trapped in a maelstrom of cogs and piping. The painting works on two levels-firstly as a comment to the individuals positioning in 21st Contemporary society where it can be interpreted that our individual traits are being subsumed by the system-ie globalisation, consumerism and expression via the brands we associate ourselves with. Secondly the work is an outlet for my own personal frustrations at being artistically constrained by the financial necessity of working in service industry.

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Portfolios: October 2011 Curator Reviewed Artwork

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Comment by Resident Curator on October 26, 2011 at 2:34pm: Curator’s Comment:

There’s quite a lot to like about this series of works, and I especially valued your accompanying artist’s statement which contextualizes the visual narrative and historical framework. I absolutely see inspiration from Russian Constructivist as well as Italian Futurists works in the fracturing of the pictorial space, as well as a nod to the Dada/ Surrealist (Picabia-esque) wheel of industry. Despite these overlapping stylistic associations, I believe you have melded the genres and movements in a highly personalized way and in doing so add their past political associations to repeating contemporary conflicts. I enjoy the crushing and mired visual weight of the right of this work coming abruptly up against a flat vertical horizontal on the left. I comprehend the cog in the wheel metaphor, and the colorful turning of broken angles to suggest conflict if not looming violence. Waking Up and Realizing I’m Part of the System suggests an awakening from the dream state as well, through title and form. The radial wheel shape on the far left breaks away from the frenzied movement dominant in the composition, and connotes the individual plight within the agitated mass. They Will Knee You in the Face Then Kick You When You’re Down contains a similarly sharp and heightened tension, but the figurative elements personalize the conflict, rather than take aim against a relentless and omnipresent establishment.