Composite heart, 2024
Link to a video of the piece | See more photos
Composite heart [digital + 5 woodcut prints] was an installation taking place in Oberlin, OH, built upon the previous work I keep looking as well as Projection eclipse p1. The work consists of five woodblock prints, mapped projection, original video, and original audio. The solo exhibition was installed in a racquetball court; the towering wall engulfing the viewer in a disconcerting, highly personal dissection of masculinity, time, and loss.
Ice is a repeating motif throughout my work. Masculinity has long been wielded as a bludgeon against women, LGBT+ people, and even men--patriarchy is a culture of fear that encourages violence and containment. Coldness, even. The ice repeated in different settings convey my constantly-shifting understanding of what it means to be a man, and my hope that I can discover how to understand softness before it's too late.Â
The five prints take the digital and make it physical: loose drawings of hearts scanned, digitally dissected and filled in with digital media, which was then laser cut into wood and printed via the press at Oberlin College. These works balance the coldness of the video, providing somewhat of a response: there is no right way to be a man, but pulling together your own values and experiences can create something new, more genuine and less directly influenced by culture. Visitors were encouraged to get up close to the wall to see the minute detail of the prints.
I am grateful to those who participated in and helped organize the filming process, and owe much Professor Kristina Paabus for her guidance and wisdom.
Thank you:
Kern Brunck
Henry Grame
Indie Caldwell
Tyler Jester
Kristina Paabus