A Nonsensical Nature Resurfaced

Artist Statement

Prior to the COVID-19 quarantine, friends were greeted with smiles and hugs, acquaintances were welcomed with handshakes, and intimacy was often communicated through physical connection. Our familiarity with physical contact caused us to take these acts for granted. The order to distance during the pandemic made it even more evident how closely we associate physical contact with socializing and how much we desire both. Governments and doctors called for social distancing, a term that seems to not quite suit the act but brings up an important characteristic of the human species. We are not socially distancing. We are physically distancing. Perhaps the word choice reveals just how closely we associate physical interaction with social interaction.

Through surreal, humanoid, clay sculptures my work delves into the intersection between the complexities of human behavior, posthumanism, and the philosophical concept of absurdism by depicting a new human species made out of unnaturally large fingers and fleshy masses. In my work, fingers represent the human desire for communication, physical contact, and understanding. They relate to one of our strongest senses: touch. A sense that by no means is exclusively human but remains a defining factor in our humanity as it speaks to both physicality and the social nature of human beings. Fingers become a vessel to create visually ridiculous characters out of something that is ubiquitous to humans and I use that to explore the more abstract qualities of humanity, such as the extreme absurdity of our existence.

The absurd is innately linked to being human in that we continuously search for meaning and order in a world where neither are known to exist. My sculpted characters are acknowledgments of the absurd and my acceptance of change as well as an homage to bliss, play, and curiosity. The seemingly nonsensical nature of my work reflects the absurdity of humanity and the absurdity within the act of making these unusual forms. My work somewhat extravagantly serves as an ode to the sensation of physical contact. These forms and surfaces create an almost comical offering to intimacy and physical contact.

📷 Images by Rebekah Alviani