ARTIST STATEMENT
Loss is inevitable. Fear blinds us, we stigmatise the ‘other’, but how can we learn from this? Inspired by the work of William Yang, Chiharu Shiota and Felix Gonzalez-Torress, ‘Remember me?’, examines confrontation of losses from the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, allowing audiences to realise historical loss and addressing the contemporary context of our recent pandemic. Through alienation of those sick with disease, viewers face the stigmatisation and its subsequent bereavement. Reduced to a name, individuals fall victim to a stigmatised disease and as memories fade, so does the remembrance of its victims. This installation enshrines the past, never to be forgotten.
ARTWORK PROCESS
A master form was created and then caste to make a mold, Air-dry clay was then utilized to create multiple hand caste cassettes. Experimentation of various coats, seals, and paints were used for the cassettes, so as to recreate porcelain appearance and displayed on a pinboard panel. Red ink written on tapes symbolizing names of those lost were hand written. Various tape-making techniques were explored and a handmade and innovated fabric stiffening mixture was used so as to prevent fraying. The focal point of the red stain was created with paint and chalk pastels.
