Taking Shape

My series Taking Shape focuses on cultural consumption, in this case through appropriating and re-imagining print media to create dynamic and semi-abstract collage installations. For my primary source material, I cull images from women’s fashion magazines. By design, these magazines exude a calculated and seductive quality which is evident in even the smallest details. The visual language of these magazines is carefully constructed to elicit desire in consumers as well as appeal to the perceived desire of their audience. In my process, I first search through the magazines to select pieces based on their formal elements such as color, shape, and form. I then use these decontextualized pieces as elements for my own compositions, which are created both intentionally and intuitively. The end result is a combination of shapes and color that borders on abstraction and incorporates elements of contemporary American consumer culture