Artist Statement
Our work embodies the essence of opulence while being constructed of materialsthat typically end up in the trash. We mine popular culture searching for discardedmaterials that people use trying to reach their goals. Whether it is a Hollywood filmthat transports the viewer into a dream reality, a travel poster promising a luxuriousvacation, or a lottery ticket that gives the possibility of a future full of richdecadence; we use these remnants to both re-create people's dreams, andportray the dreamer.
Our process leads us on a constant quest to find the hopes and dreams of aculture or sub-group. Quite often we will build the actual thing people are dreamingabout, using the resources and materials we have collected. When we beganworking with lottery tickets we built a trilogy of the three things people dreamabout, and then bought if they won the lottery, a dream car, vacation, and home.
As we moved on to other cultural desires we began creating abstractions of theemotions one feels when gambling, or watching Hollywood films. Lately we havebeen working with both the representation of the dream object, and emotiveabstractions in the same work. In “When the Smoke Clears; The Fair HousingProject” we have used the representation of a Iconic American house and withinthat shape is a series of abstract paintings. “Fair Housing Project” in made entirelyof the detritus we have collected from art fairs to examine the wastefulness, oversaturation, and the economic drive that keeps these fairs going.
Along side our collection of materials, we also collect words; words we hear,words we see in advertising, and words that represent what is happening in agiven time and culture. Much like with the objects we collect, we take these wordsand use them in repeat as our pallet to create line in drawings, and lately, to createlarge site-specific wall drawings. The diversity of our subject and material wecollect leads us to varied techniques and methods of making. Our work spans thegamut; utilizing drawing, collage, video,installation, sculpture, photography, andpainting to produce our projects. Having this multivalent way of working gives theviewer multiple entry points into the work, and an opportunity to open the range ofwhat can be learned, experienced, and discussed.
