Curatorial Rationale

As an artist, I am interested in exploring misunderstandings and the positive aspects of negative events. I found myself interested in the idea of how everything has a reason for its occurrence. Even though we go through negative experiences, there are always positive outcomes whether we realize it at the moment or later in life. These explorations allow the audience to experience the positive aspects of negative situations in one's life. Some concepts that I have explored in my work have been the difficulties in long distance relationships (Distance) and how even though those type of relationships, not necessarily boyfriend and girlfriend but also family, can often be difficult to keep, there are many positive outcomes from them such as the overwhelming feeling of happiness once you are able to see that person face-to-face.

Besides the focus of positive outcomes in negative events, I also branch out to the misunderstandings in childhood. I investigated two perspectives of what optimism and pessimism looks like as children, in the pieces Fits and Childhood. The artwork Fits depicts how a simple haircut can feel like the end of the world for a child but for the parents, it's just a tantrum. This artwork is one of my biggest art pieces placed around the center of my exhibition with the intention of grasping the viewers attention. Providing two different perspectives in my exhibition conveys emotion and allows the audience to relate and connect to the artwork based on their own experiences. Due to the fact that everyone has different childhood experiences, having two different perspectives of childhood, further allows the audience to associate themselves with the exhibition. The exhibition as a whole provides a balance between positive and negative emotions that further unify the artworks which allow the audience to explore with an open mind. Having the child crying in a bathtub while getting his haircut adds emotion to the art itself and to the audience.

I was inspired by a photographer named Helen Levitt who was known for her street photography around New York. Although I do not focus on street photography, Levitt included children and their daily life. I thought the daily life aspect was such a simple and realistic idea that I decided to incorporate it into my own photographs.

The artworks in my exhibition were chosen with the intention of providing a unity around themes of misunderstandings and finding positivity within negativity. The artworks Fits, Happiness, Childhood and The Last Moment all show different perspectives on misunderstandings of childhood. In these art pieces I used my brother as the model to capture the goofy and disappointing moments of his everyday life. All four of these artworks are placed next to each other in order to help the audience understand that although they have different meanings, they all work together to provide the good and bad perspectives of childhood. By placing the negative artworks at two opposite ends of the wall, and having the positive artworks in the middle, I am able to further depict the idea of there always being a positive aspect in negative events.

Unlike the previous artworks described, the sculpture titled, Distance, relates to the topic of long distance relationships while depicting the good and the bad. With the use of burnt paper and flowers in a chest box, this sculpture depicts how even though these type of relationships are hard to maintain, they are not impossible. Since, Distance, is my only sculpture and the only artwork that incorporates the good and the bad of a situation, I felt like it was important to place it in the middle which would add to the balance in my exhibition. I want all of my photographs to be hung on the wall to be able to frame the sculpture in order to represent unity while symbolically getting rid of the barrier between negativity and positivity.

None of the artworks in this gallery are for sale.

Contact the artist at bianneyh01@gmail.com