There is an institutionalized molding that occurs within our society that I navigate through almost daily. It’s that unconscious construction of societal norms, institutions and feelings that drive my passion for knowledge and stimulate my curiosity. In this piece, I deconstruct some of those elements of society that are of particular interest to me because I feel they are unnaturally and surreptitiously rooted into our personas.
From a very young age, we are asked to conform, be patriotic, respect our nation’s triumphs and defeats in history, and then recite how all of those components have shaped our country today. Our cultural inclinations are ones that seem to go unquestioned, and have for a very long time. My visual objective here is to challenge and critique certain aspects of American society that stand out for me as ones that are worth questioning. This illustrative articulation explores the cultural restrictions that are subtly placed on our society.
Trichotomy was initially sparked by the perpetual inner dialogues that go through my mind while trying to understand the breakdown of our society and how norms are created. My perception of what it means to be an American has been shaped not only by how I grew up, but also through my coursework in anthropology and a semester I recently spent abroad in Argentina. After working on my last video, an installation piece that focuses on my personal struggle as a vegetarian in a carnivore society, I began to see that by confronting the viewer with my perspective on societal pressures and personal experiences was the goal of my artistic expression. My art becomes the means through which I demonstrate my perspective and highlight these imperfections in society. What once was organic and previously unquestioned has evolved into a continual investigation of why and how societal norms and institutions were constructed originally, and how they are still reinforced by society today.
The three-channel video is abstracted, yet the sharp red, white, and blue overtones give an ominous, candid critique of three important assemblages within society: how children are molded to fit certain established ideals, how marriage is seen as a life goal with the implication of being that it is the only path to complete happiness, and how the media transmits a powerful, yet subliminal message into our personal choices. In my show, I try to fully engage the viewer in this three-dimensional space through frenetic, manipulated video footage divided into three parts and accompanied by surround sound that communicates the distinct feelings exhibited in this piece.
My unique approach is based on my knowledge and experiences that help me interpret how societal norms have shaped my life, and my videos investigate what goes beyond the previously acknowledged. This project has been an ongoing process of how I seek out innate perceptions and natural sensitivities within our heavily constructed commercial American society.