For project my intention was to continue with the abstract series I started in project 2. I wanted to continue engaging with the paint and hopefully learn in the process what it is that makes us assume and value things about certain forms. A key part of continuing my practice is to study and observe the behaviors and object interactions of myself and people I encounter. I want people to see my works, recognize and assign their own means to forms and reinstall a sense of wonder and objectiveness in the objects around us. The same way a young child is just as likely to be entertained by household objects, as they are the toys meant for them to play with. I want to them to step back and realize the way they build layers of meaning to understand the world, and how everything we know is labeled by ourselves. Things just exist and we place our own meanings on to them. I want to visually replicate the sensation of semantic satiation, when someone says a word repeatedly until the sounds of the word lose the meaning. You begin to hear your own language and actions of speaking for what it is; you are an animal making sounds. Not too long ago I had an experience walking through Tompkins Square Park where I saw mother pigeon with group of around 10 baby pigeons following. The pigeons were very small, round, and fluffy and were traveling in a tight group. This small group of ball like pigeons made me gag at the sight of them. For some reason fact they looked like little balls that were closely moving together in a group visually reminded me of a group of puff ball fungi, pimples, and other, personally unpleasant, organic forms. This was my first experience with trypophobia or a similar condition. In this moment I subconsciously saw the general form of the pigeons and associated it with similar visual experience. This is something I want to give my audience. I want them to acknowledge we don’t see everything objectively, and that what we see is a summation of the literal visuals, and all the associations our mind places in relation to what we see.

For my painting itself I tried to bring a much gritty tone to it. I didn’t use any white, the forms I tried to build much darker and muddier than my previous piece. I intend to abstract the forms that inspire me in the composition so that the piece sits like a still life, seems familiar, but is abstracted past the point being recognized. Humans recognize things by color as well as form, which is the reason behind my choice of such saturated, vibrant colors. I want to take the forms outside their usual context. I want to get the audience to unknow what it is that they believe is familiar or important. Like when you a repeat a word and it becomes meaningless, I want them to realize that the meanings and value system they’ve built up don’t exist. There is no right or wrong, objects just exist and things just happen.