Artist In Residence
Artist Statement
Sarah Barsness
Photos of this artist's work.
I migrate between image and object as I address notions of memory and self. The self is not solid and fixed, but fluid and mercurial, as the changing contexts of life demand its constant reinvention. This is why memory is so fickle - it must conform to our ever-changing selves. Individual memory creates the self, but the self continuously creates and recreates memory.
I use a wide range of materials and approaches to describe the complex web of memory and consciousness. While my original source material is the disorderly archive of my own memory, I also scour estate sales, thrift stores and curbsides for objects that carry the memories of strangers. I use these magpie gatherings to describe the nonlinear quality of memories, the way they accumulate, spread and connect rather than simply passing. Memory inscribes itself on the body - the infant, the child and the adolescent all still live within the adult - and I select and arrange materials with that in mind.
The intertwined notions of self and memory are powerful and tenacious, and yet, any attempt to fix the self through memory proves that both are frail and tenuous. This paradox is the core of my creative research.
I migrate between image and object as I address notions of memory and self. The self is not solid and fixed, but fluid and mercurial, as the changing contexts of life demand its constant reinvention. This is why memory is so fickle - it must conform to our ever-changing selves. Individual memory creates the self, but the self continuously creates and recreates memory.
I use a wide range of materials and approaches to describe the complex web of memory and consciousness. While my original source material is the disorderly archive of my own memory, I also scour estate sales, thrift stores and curbsides for objects that carry the memories of strangers. I use these magpie gatherings to describe the nonlinear quality of memories, the way they accumulate, spread and connect rather than simply passing. Memory inscribes itself on the body - the infant, the child and the adolescent all still live within the adult - and I select and arrange materials with that in mind.
The intertwined notions of self and memory are powerful and tenacious, and yet, any attempt to fix the self through memory proves that both are frail and tenuous. This paradox is the core of my creative research.
- Residency Period: November 1, 2005 - April 30, 2006
- Art show with Ed Clapp: April 21 and 22, 2006