An anonymous aggressor, the black silhouette having no identity,
it is empty and valueless. This is why they are easy to destroy and so open to
accept violence. How can I add value and preciousness to these figurative
forms? And how do I break from the tradition to create something different? I
wanted these nameless bodies to have an identity. It was important undermine
the original intentions of the gun target.
The addition of a human, identifiable face was important to
develop a relationship with an audience; to close the distance between the dark
and the light. These playful portraits are funny and silly, awkward moments
captured on the faces of my family. They are carnival like, as if you are
playing a game at the midway. Some of the shooters are more successful than
others at this game. There was also a personal struggle in utilizing
individuals close to me. Do I allow others or even myself to shoot at these
targets?
The portraits are bright, garish in color with corresponding gun(s)
to create visual cohesion throughout the target picture plane. The “gunshot”
leaves a mark/geometry on the surface, which is incorporated into the image. Sometimes
these marks are random, as if from a novice shooter. In other cases, they are
pattern like and clearly shot from a marksman.
The
“duel” occurs visually between the gun targets because of their differences –
abstraction versus definition; graphical versus painterly and anonymous versus named.
They challenge the audience conceptually inside the artworks and externally due
to their relationship with recent gun related tragedies (plural). You cannot leave
without being influenced and marked by the experience.
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