Artist Statement

What is your story? What events shaped who you are? What is a quote you live by, or an object you can't live without? Whether it is something told or something personally experienced, life is composed of stories. Regardless of how many times these questions are asked, each individual's answer will be different. Items and people are key factors in these narrations, building upon every interaction, a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.

Throughout life, humans collect memories imperative to our wellbeing and existence. Time passes causing us to forget, but nostalgia stays with us. Relationships between formative events and their portrayal are the root of my work. Identity is explored through the sciences. Psychologist Erik Erikson took a specific interest in identity and aimed to investigate the process of its formation across a lifespan. Oxford Research Encyclopedias of Psychology define identity as “the memories, experiences, relationships, and values that create one’s sense of self”. This union creates a steady sense of who one is over time, even as new facets are developed and incorporated. 

The typical portrayal of this individualism is often a snapshot of one’s life, but I highlight the interconnectivity of these memories with who I am today. All these experiences interconnect and weave together to create me. Visual imagery is ignited through the depiction of introspective ideas of life and experiences. Themes of family or objects that hold significance are represented through my work in atypical ways, such as a self-portrait being a clear bag or a bust physically reflecting internal feelings.

Symbolism and various mediums represent parents, sisters, hometown, experiences, etc., and define personal characteristics. The aim is to answer the question “how does the examination of one's conscious thoughts and feelings impact the development of another individual’s life.”  Each answer will be uniquely represented and that’s the wonderful thing about the human experience, no two are the same.

- Landon Sule