ARTIST STATEMENT
From a series of experiments investigating Specific Objects and how the mundane, the broken, the useless can be cherished. Precious Metals// Fork references the structures and signifiers used in museum collections, archives, and the home to indicate significance and history. Each object regardless of usefulness, relevance, or value, is cherished by the artist.
Paintings allow me to spend time with the object; feeling the surface and looking closely. It documents the formal qualities of the object as well as time spent. Through the labor of carving and sanding pedestal-like sculptures, the specificity and preciousness of the object is mirrored by a specificity of place; it belongs. Thorough documentation (photography, scans, material samples) allows me to take a closer, more analytical look at the life of the object; each imperfection offers proof and insight.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Multi-disciplinary artist utilizing scientific and creative strategies to engage in material exploration. Using repetition and intricate techniques, I create works grounded in our relationship with the material world; exploring in an effort to understand materials at all scales. I investigate these objects and materials as records (capable of recording time, use, experience, relationship) and view my work as research, documentation, and products of processes of understanding.
My work investigates the natural world, objects of personal and mundane significance, meditative process, feminine tradition, and cultural preservation; pondering the personal and impersonal, tactile and connections we have to physical objects and spaces through a variety of mediums.
© Bekah Baker