Artist Statement

Paring down intimate human activity by way of animating materials, invites the viewer to focus on their own memories, communicative behavior and sensual ability.

Six cushions not facing each other tilt towards their neighbor, not knowing if the other will do the same. On a blue wall and tilted table, collected hat pins and sticky, ribbonous masking tape rub into each other, screaming of the sexual but muting the perverse. Twenty torn pieces of paper are choreographed, stretching to the voice of the violin. They continue to dance as a flock, all pulled to their maximum width as a group, once every minute. The three-dimensional electro-mechanical systems, now videos, are ongoing remnants, hinting at everyday conversation and activity.

Colored pencil is drawn on top of pressed patterns, acknowledging order while inviting the impulsive. Scores of miniature rocking chairs, each constructed from one piece of slotted paper, rock back and forth to an oscillating fan. They serve as a community of listeners and smile and nod to the speaker, a moving machine. Their designs, former photographs of plaster, paint, rolled paper, spaghetti, felt, glue and orange peels, have been digitally manipulated, creating waves of color. Viewers may play the role of both the audience and the voyeur and realize that looking is necessary for the understanding of the glide, the stretch and the push.

Whether static or kinetic, art has the ability to make you itch, tense up, hold your breath and lean. Over the past several years, my practice has become more rigorous as I've learned to better utilize design and the affect of gizmology to prompt intimate introspection. With limitless possibilities in materials, new media, and group participation, I'm thrilled to explore large spaces and systems with a keen sense of visual invention.

- Josephine Durkin