A Matter of Identity
A self-portrait. This wooden sculpture stands 5’2” tall and consists of over 670 pieces of wood cut in various lengths and sanded to show each individual wood grain. No two pieces are the same, each displaying a unique fingerprint. Each piece is as unique and special as the others, yet more powerful when placed side by side creating a whole beautiful entity that is made up of many individual pieces.
The sculpture stands on its own without the need to have anything to hold it up or sustain its very existence. It exists on its own without a need for anyone else to hold it up. It is self-reliant and self-supporting with a hinged leg adorned with a slip of lace to add a feminine flare. In the tradition of three dimensional art, this sculpture is intended to be viewed from all angles. Viewing the sculpture from all angles provides new information that informs the whole sculpture. The pieces are as important as the whole, and the whole is informed by each individual piece.
Each tip is glossed to allow the shine to highlight the individual features. The backside of the sculpture is painted and sanded to mirror some of the elliptical shapes found within the wooded fingertips. There are over 1,000 roofing nails that glitter the backside for strength and imagery.
The title of this piece references the physical matter as well as the issue with identity, playing on the double meaning thus referencing the duality of identity, how we view ourselves and how others view who we are. I chose “A” instead of “The” because my identity is mine alone and can not be applied to others. I felt if I used “The” it would be definitive while the use of “A” refers to one not all.
I believe within me there are many identities, that of a woman, a mother, a friend, a lover, an artist, a breadwinner, a free-spirit, a doubter, a supporter, a destructor, a builder and on and on and on. These many identities are often at war with each other as they are at peace and harmony.
It is the dual need for each identity to have its own individual experience validated and the necessity to embrace how they each inform the other that intrigues me.
When seen as pieces of a whole, not the whole in the piece, the appreciation for what makes us who we are is profound. It is through coexistence that the core of me shines and thrives. That led me to reveal, refine and showcase the specific individual aspects of each piece of wood and arrange them so at times they recede from the viewer and other times they jettison out toward at the viewer, thus providing what I find as an interesting visual landscape and a representation of the reality of all the different identities vying for attention in different ways.”
Details
Date Created: 2014
Artistic Medium: Wood, nails
Dimensions of piece: N/A
Price: N/A