Artist's Statement
My work explores interrelations,
interpretations and influences of the concepts of identity, human
nature, context, perspective, the role of the image, and the role
of the viewer.
Each work is designed
to make the viewer aware of their thoughts on the subject, and
of their reaction to the awareness, ideally putting them in a
state of mind to contemplate both.
Project-Specific Statements
The Pilgrimage video
and audio installations recreate modern-day experiences of this
ancient tradition by transporting us to holy sites in the era
of tourism.
The series Midwestern
Girl considers how the physical environment and unchosen
extended family unwittingly feed into personal development. In
The Block Where I Grew Up, each house is associated with
a character trait, and the impressions that remain after childhood
memories are filtered through distance and adulthood. Additionally,
it mocks the Midwestern social environment where the quiet, perfect
facades often don't reflect the reality within.
In the four-channel video Here We Go Again each playground
toy cycles from a very serene tempo to a lively one, but at a
different pace, symbolizing the patterns that are set in childhood
and remain throughout one's life.
The video installation July 4, 2004, Schoolcraft, MI becomes
a portrait of the people across the street, the town itself, and
America, and spurs thoughts and conversations surrounding the
universal nature of local traditions and rituals.
A satirical look at the
"day job," the Pitch videos isolate gestures
of people selling their products at trade fairs.
I believe that where one feels they do or do not belong is one
of the strongest indicators of self-identity. The feeling of belonging
is an internal compass, driven by the unconscious; a comfort/anxiety
scale related to a specific place and time. No matter where we
want to belong, this feeling always tells us our "true self."
Often, it is explained away by easily identifiable characteristics
of "sameness" and "otherness" that the "others"
may not even perceive. As I was exploring this, I was surprised
how little is written about it. The Belonging Series
is my contribution.
Works in The Self-Identity Series take viewers through
three thought processes; what you think of other people, what
you think others think of you, and what you think of yourself.
The answers to each are reflections of one's self-image.
The DNA-based works raise questions about the relationship
of one's identity and one's biology.
Throughout The Anderson - Immke Project, found photographs
of my ancestors are used to explore the relationship and value
of them to my identity, and, on a broader scale, cultural identity.
My great-great-grandfather, H. W. Immke, was the town photographer
in Princeton, IL around 1900. Immke
is my only known ancestor that was a photographer. I spent much
of my youth in the darkroom. I was told that it must be the "Immke
in you." I contact printed
these images from his glass plate negatives, over a 4-day period
in a darkroom a few blocks from the site of his former studio.
These pieces are the record of my exploration for personal identification
with this man and our shared interest, and his/my family.
Read about my visit to the Bureau County Historical
Society where approximately 500 glass plate negatives of my past
relatives are archived with 18,000 others in the Immke collection.
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