This is the first in a series I began after returning from a trip to Paris. Shortly after beginning the piece, the Paris attacks happened and I couldn’t continue as planned and not acknowledge them in my work.
I recently came across the term ‘hyper-reality’ from Jean Baudrillard via the American artist and writer, Peter Halley. The hyperreal to me is a response to the almost overwhelming alienation and futility we experience as a result of impersonal forces acting upon us, like materialism, capitalism, militarism, radicalism, etc. ‘Hyperreal’ describes this state of affairs but also offers an alternative: the individual’s ability to, unironically, create things.
This work is, first of all, a personal record of my Paris trip. It contains things that made an impression on me. It’s mounted on a gessoed wood panel (20″ x 20″). Each piece in the series is built around a different colour. Together, the pieces can be seen as building blocks. The inspiration was a building I saw under construction in Paris. The idea is that they can be displayed individually or in a grouping of four or more blocks.
I’m not a Parisian, but I hope a love of Paris and a respectful sense of grief and solidarity with Parisians are evident.
