Nowadays, consumerism and childhood are one in the same. Toys and candy, two components of the essential contemporary childhood experience in the West, are also two thriving consumerist markets in the United States. Our favorite childhood toys, though rich in meaning and memories for each of us, are mass produced and distributed. The candies we desperately hoarded, too, appear to be a symptom of consumerism.
There’s something fascinating about the mass-produced quality of both toys and candy. I bring this quality to the art I make. A plaster mold of one baby doll head can mimic the same concept made by toy manufacturers, for instance.
A rich, soft chalk drawing of a crumpled candy wrapper can speak about the throw away culture that comes out of our consumer nature. A whole wall of these drawings, on the other hand, paints a familiar picture. The author Mary Staniszewski wrote that though the painter Mondrian aspired to create a symbol for modernity by reducing art to its most essential forms, popular culture emerged as the inevitable victor. The art I make is undeniably Pop Art. The images I create, therefore, symbolize the consumer nature of the age we live in while paying homage to the shared experiences of our upbringing.
There’s something fascinating about the mass-produced quality of both toys and candy. I bring this quality to the art I make. A plaster mold of one baby doll head can mimic the same concept made by toy manufacturers, for instance.
A rich, soft chalk drawing of a crumpled candy wrapper can speak about the throw away culture that comes out of our consumer nature. A whole wall of these drawings, on the other hand, paints a familiar picture. The author Mary Staniszewski wrote that though the painter Mondrian aspired to create a symbol for modernity by reducing art to its most essential forms, popular culture emerged as the inevitable victor. The art I make is undeniably Pop Art. The images I create, therefore, symbolize the consumer nature of the age we live in while paying homage to the shared experiences of our upbringing.