Artist Statement

Longing, because desire is full of endless distances.
- Robert Hass

Longing is a state that is usually satiated or conquered rather than embraced or examined. Yet in the untraceable distances between knowing and not knowing, having and not having, and seeing and being blind, I find an uncomfortable beauty. It is this space between one’s self and the thing one desires that is a central concern in my practice.

Through an interdisciplinary reliance on sculpture, installation, video, and performance, I link my personal experiences of longing for various things such as love, truth, and understanding with historical, mythical, and contemporary archetypes of feminine longings found in literature, film, and life. Whether it is Homer’s Odyssey or reality television, I use these often passé, clichéd, and contrary depictions of longing to locate a profound beauty, peculiar humor, and intimate sadness. In my work, I negotiate these elements looking for where I find consonance and conflict, and it is between these well-defined points that I draw inspiration for my work.

I discover potential meanings and metaphors in the ordinary objects, materials, and situations I encounter in the physical distances that I travel in life—whether to walk my dog or to drive to work or across the country to see friends and family. This process of searching in my daily life leads to the transformation of everyday materials in my studio such as table salt, rope, and flatware. I use these and other familiar objects and images to tell a new narrative that questions traditional expectations of materials while revealing the complicated relationships between the social and psychological dimensions of material conditions and physical circumstances.

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ANNIE STRADER

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