FUNHOUSE
Gallery 10, Siena Heights University / spring 2018
FUNHOUSE was a full-room installation that was located in a small gallery space, Gallery 10, at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan. The installation was a final project as part of a third level painting class: ART356-AA: Collage to Installation.
The themes that this installation tackles are memory, identity, and childhood. This project’s interest is in how viewers associate with the space, such as memories or emotions that arise that have perhaps been latent. Such themes are focused on due to my curiosity in the unconscious and how it plays a role in what it means to be human.
The reason cardboard was used was in order to imply disposability as well as to connect with the idea of a funhouse being something that is set up and taken down quickly. The face that it is cardboard (even more apparent when looking through more translucent paints) is because I wanted to draw a parallel between the disposable material and the fleeting impressions that humans grow up with, inevitably shaping their behaviors and perceptions. As such, there is sparse religious iconography, grotesque faces, and phallic shapes. Geometric shapes act as the matrix of this space, components that make up the more complex forms. These simpler shapes have yet to conglomerate, but as one walks through the space and sees how these simpler shapes hover in front of one another, new forms appear brought about by visual perception and association.
Cutting out and painting the cardboard took roughly 45 hours over the course of 3 weeks, and installation took around 4 hours with the help of an assistant.
flier design for the show
