What an exciting/exhausting week (and a half)!! Our show was awesome. Everyone's work looked great in the space. I was really happy with my installation, and the feedback was all positive and supportive. Here, on my blog, I have shared some photos that were added by Brian to Facebook and some pictures that were shared with me by my friend, Bobby. The pictures I took can be found on the above link.
It was a lot of hard work and long hours installing this show. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I honestly think this was the best undergraduate show I have ever seen, and even better than a lot of shows I have ever been to. We did a great job. I am so happy with the outcome. The reception was so fun. So many people came out to support us. What an excellent night! And the after-party was a huge success (thank goodness). Great memories with great people.
Thank you to everyone who helped out so much... Philip Collins, Chris Little, Ashley Stewart, Aberlyn Sweetland-May, Daniel Frank, Brian Harper... you all made those long hours of installing a fun, learning experience. You are some of my favorite people and favorite artists. I will truly miss seeing you so much and working with you after we graduate.
Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear
Miranda Becht
I remember sitting on the floral patterned couch in my living room, my feet not yet able to touch the avocado green shag carpet. My grandma showed me different objects from the curio cabinet. I took the small animal figurines and miniature oil lamp shades in my hands. “But, be careful!” I tenderly investigated the artifacts as she told me stories about them and how she came to have them. These objects are to be revered. These objects are old. These relics have stories to tell!
Looking back through my life, I realize that the objects I was surrounded by as a child have had a huge impact on my current sensibilities and aesthetic. I feel instinctively drawn to gaudy antiques, vintage items, and kitsch figurines as an adult. I am fascinated with collections and objects that come alive with meaning, history, and sentiment. These mementoes carry strong emotive connotations and associations with past spirits. Antiques have the authority to tell the stories of their past and of the people who owned them. These artifacts have residual fingerprints of thoughts, memories, and experience. I am interested in this visual narrative.
I value the objects in my curio cabinet. It is filled with cute porcelain kitty figurines, tiny glass animals, and antique salt and pepper shakers. I desire to flaunt my acquisitions, accumulation, and display. These objects are my reliquaries. They are sacred. They are precious artifacts.
My work captures the precious and nostalgia of the antique artifacts of which I pay homage. There is an autobiographical presence in my work, but I also hope to create pieces of sentiment and craft expressions of nostalgia for the viewer. Remaking and recontextualizing objects from my past is an extremely intimate experience for me. There is a sense of preservation in the work… a desire to preserve a memory. Perhaps an idealization of the past.
I am in need to collect, remember, remake, and recontextualize. There is a satisfaction achieved, as I am able to relive these moments and put myself back into my grandmother’s house just for a little while as I recreate and reminisce. My hope is to give the viewer a little glimmer and invite them along with me to experience the feelings, reverence, and intrigue I have for these artifacts as I recontextualize them. Perhaps the viewer will be able to create a narrative of their own.
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