JOAN FABIAN: HI-FI MASALA
STATEMENT ON THE WORK
The content of my
work is the contrast and interaction of similar versus diverse. What
is considered normal or beautiful is confronted and challenged
through an examination of culture, behavior, and appearance. I am
concerned with how we process the many images we see in our high
technology world and the dividing line between our reality and the
illusion of truth we have come to believe. This leads to a spiritual
quest of a higher awareness, only to conclude that our restless
desire to find new means of external stimulus is a wall of diversion
from inner personal noise. Our attention spans are limited and the
eight-second rule of downloading from the web applies as we ponder
meaning in what we see or believe we see.
The work I do is an accumulation of images, forms and associations
gathered over time and called upon in a quick retrieval format,
similar to free association. The materials I use are often found and
associated with my everyday existence. The evidence of my existence
takes form in what I have collected, such items being embroidery
floss, vinyl, cut-up erasers, food labels, and tissue paper which are
later composed on humble cereal box chipboard that has been gathered
and given to me over time by friends and family. There is magic in
the fact that what is small and "low-tech" can be made into yet
another image to seduce the eye, if only for seconds at a time. The
works give testimony to the everyday disposal of our existence and
challenge ideals of beauty.
Many of the images are personal and others have been filtered from
other sources, cultures and interpretations. I am interested in the
many ethic and cultural groups, especially in American society, and
the assimilation into the meaning of being American and life in a
post-modern society. How cultures blend and how "difference" is
interpreted and understood based on the media is another strong
focus. In exchange, other countries are becoming "American" based on
how they interpret and mimic our American media.
Reflecting on experiences of being visually overloaded by the media,
information, and advanced technology, my mind has gathered a vast
warehouse of images ready to be validated in the painting medium.
This is why the juxtapositions of imagery in the Quick Stimulations
series are diverse, spanning a large mixture of styles, formats, and
processes. The work has random associations with certain images from
the other series of Quick Stimulations, bringing forth a sense of
remembrance through repetition. I strive to interpret an intuitive
interplay within the images and how my mind arranges this data arena.
In the process of understanding images in quantity, I find that my
inner aesthetic system has been adjusted by the speed, contrast, and
quality of the absorption of my external world.