The headlines for today are bold and new, the spray-painted phrases of conflict still are freshly running down the walls. But for tomorrow and every day thereafter, the resonance of the words used today will fade away from their brash reception, but yet still exist within our psyche. History constantly reassembles itself in strikingly similar narratives only varying in times and technology. For example, crime is nothing new, the crimes committed are nothing new either. The person changes, the path does not; the event plays out the same, but the tools change from hand to knife to musket to baton to bomb and easily back around again.
My work is about recurring patterns of social struggles that I have found within historical and contemporary social dynamics. My only goal is to embrace visually my audience, warming them up to the cold world we exist within. A print, in the form of a flyer, poster, periodical, or as fine art, is utilized historically as a circulating medium conveying current information. A print has made sutras and bibles readily available, reminded us of births and deaths, sold slaves, even made art affordable. It is the print’s most powerful trait to provide immediacy and dissemination through replication. Nevertheless the indexical nature of a print allows us to plan out and contemplate our tomorrows.
Because ultimately “tomorrow” is only a word, one full of unknown hope and open opportunities. Our attraction to yesterday’s nostalgia only appears comforting, typically measured as having been easier in hindsight. Therefore, upon looking back we highlight moments of victory and reassurance but will often avoid recalling the struggle that precedes such a rewarding experience. But once remembered, and if again reevaluated to recognize the existing matrices of failures, we can use past experiences as a means of preparation for a new approach: one that denotes a relief from the past pains, all for a fresher outlook on tomorrow. This process thus allows us to look back upon yesterday’s objects of record to find inspiration that elevates our daily life, rather than remorse over the lost chance of taking part in creating a new day.