Nancy VanDevender
Portrait, still life, landscape, history, and traditional genres of painting are broken down through symbols, marks taken from tattooed skin, walls of graffiti, and open public media. These images, which are collected and archived as source material, are altered, layered, flattened, and re-contextualized to become emblems of contemporary documentary. They are then presented in the format of a backdrop or stage, size and configuration dictating a space in which something more happens. As a model for how information is transferred socially and culturally, the broader platform of theatrical forum allows us to try on change. This historical venue offers the opportunity to question our notions of public figures, public knowledge, and public mark making alongside the very personal stories and meanings that are often hidden underneath. On the flip side lies the more private presentation as living area, advocating intimacy as perhaps the most influential tool in bringing about an immediate alteration of thought and sustained exchange.