Deborah Orloff

Random Doors
mixed media
15 x 12 x 3 in.

My life and my artwork changed forever when my next door neighbor was brutally murdered. I was traumatized by the incident – afraid to go out alone, and obsessed with thoughts of violence and vulnerability. When the media recruited me as a source of information and used my reactions to form the tone of their articles, my accidental involvement in the case further heightened my awareness of the overwhelming number of women who are murdered and the manner in which the media covers their cases.

“Standard Response” (another work in this series) echoes the seemingly formulaic responses solicited by the media in reported cases of violence. Isolated in small box environments, statements such as “He was quiet and kept to himself” and “He seemed like such a nice guy” become ominously familiar. “Random Doors” utilizes my words as they appeared in the newspaper, “I probably would have opened the door for him too”, to address the randomness of violent crime and resulting feelings of vulnerability.

© Deborah Orloff