Please come to Lowell this November to see my latest works. The exhibit centers around 10 local teens & young adults, shifting perceptions, and the impact of positive influence.
Opening Reception:
United Teen Equality Center (UTEC)
34 Hurd Street, Lowell MA
November 6th, 2008
5:30 - 9:30 pm
Digital Stories Screening - 7 pm
On display at the gallery:
AYER LOFTS GALLERY
172 Middle Street, Lowell MA
November 9th - 30th, 2008
Thursday 6 - 9pm,
Saturday & Sunday 1 - 4pm
The project was made possible in part by two generous grants: One from the Lowell Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; and the other awarded by MassIMPACT.
Lowell Youth: Portraiture, Self-Image & Perception
Artist Statement:
I’ve always looked much younger than I am.
Upon first meeting someone, there’s an element of surprise when they learn my age. I often wonder, in that discernible shift in the conversation, how that person’s opinion of me changes. Does my history become more complex, and therefore the conversation more valuable?
And now, as an expectant mother, I’m even more aware of that initial judgment. Do strangers assume that I am a teenage mom? What social connotations are associated with that assumption - that I am ignorant, reckless? Is their sympathy rooted in pity, or in shared understanding?
Perhaps, because of this history, I’m very interested in initial perception and how that perception changes over time.
This project was born out of a desire to get to know some of the young adults that surround me as I go about my daily life here in Lowell. Each canvas focuses on the physical – Lowell youth in his/her favorite clothes, in his/her favorite environment, or with his/her favorite material objects – but is coupled with the subject’s personal stories and self-reflections told in his/her own voice. Painting these portraits allowed me the opportunity to get to know each of my subjects personally – their histories and complexities – and challenged my own increasing tendency to generalize and stereotype.
During our teens and early twenties, we are expected to start forging our own way in a growing world. There is a preoccupation with the way we look, material objects, and “fitting in” – yet we are beginning to think about the world beyond ourselves. It is a volatile and usually selfish time in our lives because of raging hormones, growing independence, and the confusion caused by being stuck in transition from child- to adulthood. Add an urban environment into the mix, with its cultural and economic extremes, and there’s even more unpredictability.
Perhaps, due to this compounded instability, urban teens often display a defensive, or “harder,” outward appearance – which may contradict with who they are within.
The exhibit pays homage to a sometimes misunderstood and under-appreciated group of people, and recognizes how each developing personality becomes a thread in the social fabric of my home, the City of Lowell.
Click HERE to view work.