Elsie Richter

Over the past two years, I have experimented with mediums such as collage, acrylic paint, watercolor, drawing, photography and video. I have also attempted photorealistic and abstract execution and found that the work that best represents me doesn't feel calculated or planned. The major themes in my work are adolescence, growing up, home and what it means to not be clear about these things. I have executed these through giving my pieces a cluttered sense. I have been very personal in this venture as I feel the only way I can attempt to deal with these things is by being honest about my own life since that's all i know.

I wanted my photography to feel very in-the-moment and capture feelings and occasions that felt authentic to adolescence for example the anger portrayed in the two portraits ‘Angry’ and ‘Mad’. I want the viewer to feel as if the rage in these images is directed at them as a way to comment on the viscerality of criticism and judgement that is perceived as a teenager. In my collage pieces like ‘Yep Touch My Hat’ and ‘Broke Bitch Energy’, I layered images and drawings and text to depict the conglomeration of deep emotions that all come together in adolescents.

For my exhibition, I chose to depict a teenager’s bedroom (closely resembling mine). I used a vhs panasonic TV, much like the one my brother and I watched movies on when we were younger, to display my self portrait video about growing up. I covered one of the walls of my installation in photos and keepsakes from my childhood to make the room feel lived in. I also wanted to be as present within my work as possible as I feel that I am most satisfied with my art when I can connect with it. Earlier on in the class, I had attempted repeatedly to create ‘perfect’ pieces that captured a place or a person exactly. I approached my work as if it was a dedication to the subject and then found myself constantly disappointed. My show and the work displayed attempts to emulate that work-in-process feel, it allows itself to not be perfect. My installation was heavily influenced by Tracy Emin’s ‘My Bed’. This can be seen most clearly through the messy clothes I placed on the floor of the installation, an echo of Emin’s messy sheets. Using the bedroom concept connects the work to me as the artist on another level. Since my name and likeness is featured on the collaged wall, it is assumed that the room is mine therefore the work on the walls represents me, as the photographs or decorations that people choose to have on their walls represent them.