In Absentia
This project is an exploration of the human desire for perfection and the subsequent disillusionment when reality proves the impossibility of the ideal. Stemming from my interest in our predilection to construct a mental ideal and to overlook both, consciously and unconsciously, reality when it comes in conflict with that perfection, these images are intended to evoke an emotion and then inspire analysis of that emotion. Centered purely around the domestic space, I have chosen to concentrate exclusively on interpersonal relationships. In my experience this arena provides fertile ground for the mind's follies. The immediately recognizable subject matter, formal composition, and technical aspects such as lighting and color evoke feelings of loneliness, lifelessness, and sorrow. It is with the physical construction of these spaces in miniature the viewer experiences a sort of visual unease as well. In the images there is always something slightly askew whether it be relative size, overly simplified shape, or imperfection in the fabrication of the furniture. Upon close inspection the viewer becomes aware of the constructed space therefore gaining access to the idea of model making as a metaphor for perfection and the desolation depicted as a comment on reality's interjection.