Abstract:
Having discovered recurring themes and techniques in my own work, and in an effort to better understand precisely why they keep appearing, I chose to base my research for this thesis on developing a better understanding of how other artists interested is similar themes both approach and explain their reasons for doing so.
The notion that art can be a window onto another world, but also a mirror as well, reflecting back to us who we are and how we see, is central to my exploration. The artists that I have chosen to describe create work that questions the process of viewing art. The nature of this engagement – the particular way in which we engage and react to art – is explored in varied ways.
While some artists use filmic depictions – or rather, illusion – to reflect repetitive human behavior, other artists use formal approaches as a means to slowing down the viewing process itself, thereby, calling into question the very way in which we see. Rather than what we see, how we see plays an important role – often revealing more about ourselves than it does about what we see. Ultimately, what I find is that both art and viewer influence one another; a process not unlike a feedback loop. At the core of this research and, perhaps more importantly in my own creative practice, is the idea that we, too, are part of the art.