Jessie Schwalb
Jessie Schwalb - Curatorial Rationale
I did not originally intend to focus my artwork on the subject of childhood, but in my first year of this course, I gravitated towards that topic. I have long been fascinated by memory and the way childhood shapes us. I have also struggled with how to conceptualize a time in my life that has been so distorted by time. To communicate these ideas, I used a variety of media to engage the audience in ways that most excite them.
Through this body of work, I hope to focus the viewer’s attention on their own childhood experiences and explore the nuances of memory and nostalgia. I centered each piece around a slightly different theme, which allowed me to explore both the positives and negatives of childhood. Specifically, I hope to communicate that memory and our self conceptions are malleable, a lesson that can be both disturbing and freeing. I also aim to show that our positive view of childhood can be misplaced, since the inexperience of children, which can grant them creativity and wonder, can also lead them to accidentally harm others. Additionally, I want to communicate that, despite the efforts of many parents who attempt to shield their children, “adult” issues affect children even when they are not fully aware of these problems.
In arranging my artwork virtually, I ordered my pieces along an emotional gradient, from sad to uplifting. I started with “Class Work”, a piece that shows the destruction of childhood’s wondrousness and uses elementary school imagery to establish the time period I wanted to discuss. I placed “Heartless” afterwards to refute the previous piece’s rosy view of childhood. Next I placed “Childhood Shadows”, a more nuanced work that shows that societal traumas affect children despite their general ignorance. “Recesses of Memory” and “Tic Tac Toe” are placed together since they both focus on memories’ distortions yet use different media and take different tones. Last, I placed “Full of Contradictions”. I put this piece last so that my exhibition would end on a positive note. This piece also captures current effects of my childhood, thereby moving the viewer to consider the present. Additionally, the title of this last piece encapsulates my approach to this exhibition. In displaying my work, I placed opposing messages side by side to show that multiple truths exist and that all of these contradictions deserve recognition.
Jessie Schwalb
Class Work (December 2020)
Cardboard, alcohol ink, rubber cement, pen
22 by 11.5 inches
Childhood creativity can allow us to soar, but it is often discounted by the educational system. I started prioritizing grades in elementary school, where I was taught to strive for perfection. Since then, I worry that my creativity has withered irreparably. The scissors with which the students in this piece cut off their wings of creativity are made of worksheets and decorated with grades, showing the destructive effects of these schoolroom fixtures. By featuring an alphabet line, which I associate with elementary school, I sought to show how children are taught quite early to rid themselves of creativity.
Jessie Schwalb
Heartless (February 2021)
Watercolor, acrylic, ink, oil pastel
18 by 12 inches
When Peter Pan and the Darling children fly off to Neverland in the classic story of the boy who would never grow up, they don’t consider the repercussions of their actions. Because they lack empathy, it doesn’t occur to them that they might bring emotional anguish to Mrs. Darling, their mother. I wanted to show both the wonder and the “heartless”ness of children by displaying a different take on this classic story. I incorporated a quote from the play Peter Pan to underscore my point.
Jessie Schwalb
Childhood’s Shadows (October 2020)
Watercolor, watercolor pencil, ink, newspaper
13 by 11 inches
Although I wasn’t always aware of the news, the currents of these events, from the financial crash to 9/11, have always impacted me. I represented various times in my childhood using different objects, including a stuffed animal and a battered shoe from my playground days. By showing a range of ages, I hoped to communicate that from infancy to elementary school, these events have underscored my life, lurking in the shadows beneath these objects.
Jessie Schwalb
Recesses of Memory (November 2020)
Alcohol ink, black colored pencil, thread
5 by 3.3 inches
Each time we recall a memory, we reform it in our mind. This process continues until the memory is either changed beyond recognition or completely disappears. To capture the degradation and eventual erasure of a memory, I used the format of a flipbook- a form of simple animation I associate with childhood. I chose to depict a memory of playing tag with a friend at recess. The double meaning of the word recess, which refers to both playtime and the depths that engulfed this memory, gives the piece a bitter humor.
Jessie Schwalb
Tic Tac Toe (December 2019)
Acrylic
10 by 28 inches
Tic tac toe is a classic game, one that I associate with restaurant coloring menus and playground installations. This artwork shows the abstraction of a vibrantly colored three-dimensional tic tac toe game, which slowly tips and settles out of focus. The last panel in my abstraction is wild and chaotic, representing the movement and freedom many associate with their youth. I hope that my abstraction suggests to the viewer that our memories focus on and distort certain elements of our childhoods.
Jessie Schwalb
Full of Contradictions (February 2020)
Shoes, spray paint, collage, acrylic
10 by 4 by 6 inches
As I have grown older within a divided and uncertain world, I have been increasingly occupied with the problems facing our species. The day to day pressures of school, self esteem, and ambition also weigh heavily on my mind. I wanted to show that, although these pressures can feel all consuming at times, I retain an internal wonder at the beauty of our world despite (or possibly because of) its contradictions. This childhood wonder provides the hope that launches me forward.
