Lola Reed

Many times in my life I’ve found myself longing for a perfect nuclear family, as many others have. Why do we find ourselves gravitating towards this ideal? The truth is, there's no such thing as a perfect family. This standard doesn’t exist, it never will. The family seen throughout my SI are caricatures representing the trope of the nuclear family. I aim to showcase the underlying darkness brought on by the pressure to remain perfect. There is something beneath the surface, everything around them is slipping. Can it be maintained?

When deciding how to showcase the cracks in the family’s relationships, I landed on a perfectly imperfect world. At first glance things appear picture perfect, the realization of the ideal family. But, when looked at closely it is an artificial world, nothing is natural, least of all their relationships. I wanted to incorporate my traditional art skills into my series. My work may look like digital collage but I include hand painted aspects. Each piece is created digitally using my own photography, paintings, and photos from the web. Working digitally has allowed me to experiment and play more than I ever have.