Artist Statement
Ode to my Midwestern Home
Ode to my Midwestern Home is a collection of five works depicting familiar Midwestern iconography. Three of the works are digitally rendered and embellished with paint. The fourth piece is traditionally painted in combination with yarn wrapping to emphasize the graphic quality and portray a sense of whimsy texture. Through hand painting, coiling yarn, and making additions of color and marks, I am bonded to each item by sentimental connection, and memories.
This series functions together as a whole to present the viewer with the theme of items as ubiquitous icons of rural Americana. Living in America, specifically the Midwest, there are commercialized objects that become part of our shared experience. These objects can play a role in complex narratives, projections or assumptions about the people who purchase them. Ode to my Midwestern Home is meant to present a familiar narrative while asking others to reflect on their own roots.
