Abstract
It is human nature to want to live in an ordered world and to organize our lives through plans and rules. We tend to find security in routines and like creatures of habit we rarely stray outside of our comfort zones.
My work deals with creating a sense of dislocation to take our statically ordered worlds and contort them slightly. The cows and organic shapes in my paintings are supposed to elicit the feeling of a connection with the viewer. The fences, rock walls, and other physical barriers are a formal choice to present this dislocation. Metaphorically, the barriers in the paintings become a symbol of various interruptions in our lives.
In my manipulation of paint both in color and form I create areas of overlap, where the viewer is unable to tell what is in front or what is behind. I aim for these slight moments of dislocation and tension in space to create confusion, arouse curiosity, and invoke excitement in a viewer. It is a way to diverge from the daily banalities and observe a more stimulating space.
Recommended Citation
Coughlin, Nathalie
(2012)
"On the Other Side,"
Art Journal: Vol. 2012:
Iss.
1, Article 15.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/art_journal/vol2012/iss1/15