You and Me
Victoria Stiff
Oil and map on wood block
18cm x 18cm x 1.2cm
ARTIST STATEMENT
Victoria's paintings portray everyday objects in exquisite jewel like quality. She uses symbolism to convey meaning. Without context the objects she uses are neutral. It is in the Juxtapositions that they become charged with ambiguity, and meaning begins to surface. This symbolism become activated when presented in a work of art. For instance an apple on a supermarket shelf is just food. Take that same apple and place it on a teacher’s desk, in the hand of Eve, on the chest of a corpse, or stab it with forks and it becomes charged with meaning relative to its setting.
Her works are often either self-portraits or commentary on the world as she has observed it. She use obsessively collected objects that form a kind of map of her psyche as well as a fragment of the collective subconscious of all humanity. They are struggles to find meaning as well as statements of meaning found.
Instead of saying this is how it is, she present to the viewer a narrative. She aims to highlight the spectacular in the mundane and gives the viewer clues to interpretation. People already have archetypes hard wired into them, they are being put into motion here, in a movement of ideas from the viewer’s subconscious to their conscious.
There is an interaction of relationship, or lack thereof, between the artist, the objects, the support and the viewer.
She currently works primarily on maps and other interesting supports. These communicate the collective community of humanity. It is an act of taking ownership of the world we all inhabit. Maps give a sense of place. We all share a common humanity. We all have a place we call home, how far that extends is up to us.
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