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© Eli Craven

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Eli Craven

Lafayette

Artist Statement

I work conceptually with photographic images, by re-evaluating their physical and psychological potential through sculptural and digital interventions. The works exist somewhere between the image and object, attempting to connect the representation to some form of reality. I am interested in the ubiquitous and mundane imagery of family portraiture, self-help books, and instructional guides, which, upon close inspection, allude to a range of human fears and emotions. The research begins with the acts of looking and collecting then progresses to a critical investigation of the image and its relationship to ideologies of sexuality, desire, and death.

Discarded images and objects are collected and combined with my own photography, sculpture, and video to develop an accumulated archive of sources. The materials are reconfigured through simple acts of censorship and distortion, potentially provoking the desire to see. The renewed compositions often act like a peephole, which diverts the viewer’s gaze, and focuses attention to otherwise overlooked details. Entire scenes are rendered incomplete without the viewer’s imagination filling the gaps and visualizing what lies beneath the surface of the photograph, or behind the veil.

© Eli Craven

Eli Craven's Portfolio

© Eli Craven

Artist Biography

Eli Craven (b. 1979) is an artist based in Lafayette, Indiana where is an Assistant Professor of Photography and Related Media at Purdue University. He holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

elicraven.com

@elicraven

© Eli Craven

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