Wanda J. Pearcy / Artist Statement

goal~

i am deeply motivated by a desire to live authentically. this desire is usually thwarted by layers of historical information, both personal and social, that has seemingly equal persistence to my own conscious desires of living an authentic life. over the years my work has become vessels commenting on containment and history. i use materials that elude to a past time, as a metaphor of memory, to form objects or installations, psychological in nature. during an interview, a question arose that had me question the direction of my work. the question was not really out of order, quite common actually, ... it was the question of the artist's role in society. the answer came quickly, "... to live their lives and document them." later, in a reflective moment over this question and the direction of my work i decided to take some of the most personal parts of my history and well as the histories of those that i love and create a journel of sorts ... of the years that have past with the people i love, the time spent and the love and connection shared. this is the focus of my new series titled 'bonds', a group of black and white images that share real moments within a history, focussing on the internal nature of what connects individuals ...

inspiration~

i take inspiration from memories and desires. they both fuel my energy level and sometimes are the subject matter in my work; however, not as narratives. my interests are psychological in nature. in the process of working, there really is a marriage of controlled, systematic repetition and playfulness that allows me to both work for long periods as well as discover new methods and ideas. the systematic repetition is utilized as a way of transforming energy, psychological in nature, into physical matter ~ the art. i hope to always use play as a way to connect to childhood innocence, the portal to authentic speaking and living.

one of the most memorable experiences with my work, was an unprovoked moment of children playing with an installation i set up. the children picked up the shredded painting balls i had placed in a nest of dismantled oil paintings and were 'bowling' with them, throwing them back into the nest shape they took them out of. i watched this for a little while (they didn't know who i was) and was struck by the process they chose to play with the pieces, it was the same process that i used to install the piece. the same type of experience that i had enjoyed with the work in private, i witnessed others partake in, in public ... memorable, and directive in some way ... to be later ...

material~

material is a vessel of information suggested by it's original function, origin, or the process of it's formation. the laundry lint carries remnants of daily living; the oil painting remnants carry the history of painting, as well the history of it's original painted form; the antique bottles carry a cultural historical time and even black & white photography carries with it nostalgia as we move into the new digital age. the element in all of the material i use is history or more abstractly, time.