Since I've started the Masters I've become more aware of the apprising power of the text that accompanies an artwork. The crit sessions in particular have made me realise how much the title and description of the work enrich the viewer's understanding of the artist's intention for the work. With this in mind, it occurred to me that the artwork description could create a rich narrative for the work, particularly if I were to embed different elements into the work through collage that each have a different narrative of creation.
Then I found Rachel Klinghoffer's work! With these artworks she has done just that. The description adds an autobiographical richness to the artwork and clues me in to the New Materialist context where we are being asked to reevaluate the value of seemingly worthless items based on the additional information provided about their connection to the artist's personal experiences (for example, champagne cork from new year's eve 2020, though confusingly it seems the artwork couldn't possibly also be dated 2020 if in fact this is in fact correct). The inclusion of items such as embroidered napkins and fragments of lace from a grandmother also give the work a feminist bent, being items that subscribe to historically gendered creative work (embroidery, sewing and lacemaking).
Comentarios