ARTIST STATEMENT
Children are notorious for taking apart a couch, moving chairs and tables into an assemblage of objects to be transformed into a boat, spaceship, or house. Childhood pillow forts are a place of discovery and exploration, but not all games of discovery have equally willing participants. Secrets of Imitating is a “pillow fort” inspired piece meant to conjure an innocence and nostalgia but express the unease and turmoil of abuse that can occur in these spaces. The stacking of the furniture mimics a traditional pillow fort form with elegant patterns to create a visual abstraction in a miniature environment. The small sculptural work uses furniture to represent the body in a moment of violation and pain as well as throwing us back to childhood spaces.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Cummings received her BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in 2000 and completed her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning in 2003. Cummings is currently an Assistant Professor of Visual Arts in Painting/Drawing at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.
Her work can be found in both public and private collections and has been exhibited in multiple group and solo exhibitions throughout the south and mid-west of the United States. Cummings has been featured in the 701 Center for Contemporary Art South Carolina Biennial 2015 and 2019 in Columbia, SC, winner of the 2016 701 CCA Prize for artist under 40 in South Carolina, as well as Contemporary South at Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, NC. She was one of 65 artists chosen for The Mint Museum’s Coined in the South Exhibition 2019. Most recently she was awarded First Place in the Disrupted Realism exhibition at Buckham Gallery in Flint, MI juried by John Seed.
© Yvette L. Cummings